Photo: Collected
BNP wants to respond to oppression and injustice by the Awami League through implementing its 31-point state reform agenda, not vengeance, said the party's Acting Chairman, Tarique Rahman, today. "Gaining public support through elections reflects the people's trust. We must earn this trust through votes," he said in a virtual address during a workshop organised by BNP's Training Committee on restructuring state mechanisms and public engagement in Tangail District, Gazipur City, and Narayanganj City,
"Simply speaking about doing such things won't suffice either. People want to know what we will do for them," he added. Tarique said, "When people know you are a BNP activist, they immediately ask what would you do about this or that. We are at that stage of trust, and we must maintain it.
"Some say Tarique Rahman only talks about votes. We are a political party; of course, we will talk about votes. Will you be satisfied just by conducting an election?," he added.
The BNP acting chairman said the party must answer to the people and maintain their trust.
"If elected, the pledges that are made now must be implemented. We need to show people what we have achieved before the next election. We might be unable to do everything, but we will highlight what we have accomplished. Then it will be up to the people to judge," he added.
Tarique said, "Many of our colleagues have been killed. Over 500 of our activists were murdered during the July-August movement. I do not know if any other political party has suffered as much as we did in the past 16 years. Many of our party members' homes and businesses have been destroyed.
"I have been persecuted. My father was murdered. My mother was tortured. My brother died under their torture. If we respond to this persecution in the same manner as they do, that would not be right," he added.
"Should we stoop to their level because they are vile? We will respond by successfully implementing the 31-point agenda. We will answer them by establishing people's rights," the BNP acting chairman said.
Addressing the party activists, he said, "People are looking to the BNP. You must also look towards the people. You need to understand what will make the people favour you more. You will have many leaders and workers under your supervision. You must keep an eye on them."
He said any troublemakers within the party must be kept in check. "They might be causing a lot of damage to the party," Tarique said.
"When the dictatorship deprived the people of their rights and held power at gunpoint, I said, 'Take Back Bangladesh.' This meant returning the people's freedom of speech and their economic rights to them," he added.
"What happens in Bangladesh will be decided by the people of Bangladesh. The primary goal of Take Back Bangladesh was achieved with the help of the country's people, as the pro-democracy parties brought down the dictatorship," the BNP acting chairman further said.
Earlier on 19 December 2022, BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman announced the state reform agenda. BNP's broader reform initiatives trace back to Khaleda Zia's "Vision 2030," announced in 2017.
At the BNP's Sixth National Council in 2016, Khaleda Zia pledged to establish a bicameral parliament and create an upper house, aiming to decentralise power and strengthen parliamentary democracy.
The BNP's 31-point agenda highlights these commitments as essential to its vision for a reformed state structure.
Among other reform agendas, it includes forming a constitutional reform commission, establishing a 'Rainbow Nation' based on Bangladeshi nationalism and providing a permanent and constitutional election-time non-partisan caretaker government system.
Messenger/JRTarek
