Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan, spokesman of the National Citizen Party (NCP), has said: “We are not anti-India; we are anti-hegemony.” In relations with any country in the world, he said, Bangladesh’s national interest must be given first importance.
He was speaking on Thursday afternoon at a discussion at the RC Majumdar Auditorium of Dhaka University. The meeting, titled “Abrar Fahad: the question of Delhi’s hegemony”, was organised by the Dhaka University branch of the Jatiya Chhatra Shakti to mark the seventh anniversary of the death of BUET student Abrar Fahad.
Asif Mahmud said anti-hegemony politics must not be confined to speeches and statements. It must be reflected in practice in the making of state policy, with Bangladesh’s interest given priority.
He said there was no objection to an agreement with any country if it was beneficial for Bangladesh and carried no great risk. But they were not in favour of any agreement or relationship that sacrificed Bangladesh’s interests.
Referring to Abrar Fahad’s “eight pillars”, he said that if these ideas, including democracy and popular resistance, could be put into practice, the anti-hegemony politics of the days ahead could be made effective.
NCP member secretary and MP Akhter Hossain told the meeting that Abrar Fahad was brutally killed because he spoke up for Bangladesh’s interests, and that he had become a symbol of Bangladesh’s independence and sovereignty.
Akhter Hossain said ensuring Bangladesh’s fair share of water would be a major test for the government in the days ahead. Bangladesh’s fair share must be ensured in all common rivers, the Teesta as well as the Ganges.
He added that the indiscriminate shooting and killing of Bangladeshis on the pretext of border security could not be accepted. In relations with India or any other country, the highest importance must be given to Bangladesh’s independence, sovereignty, democracy and the interests of its people.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report