National Parliament opposition leader and Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Dr Shafiqur Rahman has called on the government to immediately adopt effective alternative measures, warning that the ongoing power and energy crisis has put the entire industrial sector, including the key export-earning garment industry, under serious threat.
He made the call as chief guest at an exchange meeting with local and national print and electronic media journalists at Bogura Circuit House on Saturday morning.
He faced journalists at the circuit house as part of a day-long political and social programme during his visit to Bogura.
Outlining the current fragile state of the industrial sector, the opposition leader said garments are the country’s main export sector. BGMEA leaders met the president and reported that their production has fallen below 50 percent due to a lack of the uninterrupted electricity supply they need. If production falls further, he said, they will be unable to repay bank loans, will be forced to lay off workers, and international buyers’ orders will be cancelled and shift to neighbouring countries.
Criticising the government’s response despite the international crisis, Dr Shafiqur Rahman said more than six months have passed since the global supply chain crisis began, yet the government has failed to arrange alternative measures. He said Jamaat has a technical expert team with experience at home and abroad, which the party offered to the government free of charge to help tackle the crisis. But instead of taking it seriously, he said, the government has made irresponsible remarks and is plotting to raise electricity prices.
Noting that the opposition’s proposals inside parliament and ordinary people’s demands have been ignored, forcing the party onto the streets, he said: “As work has not been done inside parliament, we are carrying out programmes under a six-point demand — implementing the referendum verdict, eliminating discrimination, stopping reckless politicisation, preventing extortion and corruption, controlling the prices of essential goods, and ensuring fertiliser supply for farmers. Having completed the first phase successfully, we are now conducting the second phase of our long march programme peacefully and in an orderly manner.”
Referring to the previous government’s authoritarian rule and the country’s political reality following the 2024 mass uprising, he said the country suffered severe damage during 15-and-a-half years under autocratic rule. “We lost many leaders, and the tears of the families of the forcibly disappeared have not stopped to this day. After the success of the 2024 revolution, 92 percent of the country’s people voted ‘yes’ in the referendum, aiming for major constitutional change. But instead of implementing the referendum verdict in parliament, that promise has been broken — an act tantamount to disrespecting the people’s verdict, much like in the 1970s,” he said.
Highlighting the long-standing development disparity and neglect facing Bogura district, one of northern Bengal’s key hubs, the opposition leader said Bogura is the navel of northern Bengal and the centre point of seven connecting roads. It was once a mini industrial city and education hub, but has seen no significant progress in the 54-55 years since independence, he said. Despite being in power for a long time across three terms, the Awami League kept Bogura neglected, he said, with even routine road repairs reflecting the harsh reality. “As the leader of the main opposition party representing the whole of Bangladesh, I will raise a strong voice in parliament for Bogura’s fair rights and development,” he said.
At the start of the programme, the Jamaat Ameer visited the grave of martyr Abdul Malek, killed in 1969, in Dhunat upazila at 6am. After the exchange with journalists at the circuit house, he attended a Rukon conference organised by Bogura metropolitan and district Jamaat as chief guest at TMSS Momin Convention Centre and the local Titu auditorium at noon.
Organisers said the meeting was arranged by Jamaat’s Bogura metropolitan and district units. Local and central Jamaat-e-Islami leaders, along with journalists from various print, electronic and online media outlets working in the district, attended the meeting.