BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Sunday urged the party leaders and activists to strengthen their digital presence and make the full use of modern technology to spread its message among people at home and abroad.
“The war now is being fought in the cyber world. It’s no longer about how many speeches you deliver or how many rallies you hold. What really matters is how many people you can reach digitally,” he said at the inauguration of the BNP’s overseas membership collection and renewal campaign, along with its new online payment gateway activities, at a city hotel.
Fakhrul acknowledged that many senior leaders are not very familiar with modern technology.
“Our generation is a bit less educated in this field. My grandson knows much more than I do about how to use these digital tools. But I believe our young generation will take this initiative forward with greater enthusiasm and help spread the party’s message to people,” he said.
The BNP leader called upon all party leaders to adapt quickly to digital tools as this is the age of technology.
“We have no alternative but to learn technology quickly and move forward in this digital era. I have no hesitation in saying that we are still a bit behind in this area. I would like to urge all our party leaders at every level to take personal initiative so that we can move forward digitally and make real progress in this field,” he said.
Fakhrul also stressed the importance of supporting the acting chairman’s social media activities. “When our chairman posts something, we must engage with it — like it, share it and comment on it. This is how we can show unity and strengthen our digital communication.”
He thanked the party’s acting chairman for taking the initiative to launch the digital membership and payment gateway project and expressed hope that under Tarique Rahman’s leadership, BNP will continue to move forward with the power of technology.
The BNP leader said the month of November is very significant for their party as 50 years ago, on November 7, 1975, the revolution of soldiers and mass people took place. “Through that revolution, our party’s founder and the architect of modern Bangladesh, the proclaimer of independence, Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman, entered politics.”
He said the revolution changed the course of Bangladesh’s history. “When Ziaur Rahman came to power, the country began to transform. We saw a new Bangladesh emerge. He freed the country from one-party BAKSAL rule and established a multi-party democratic system,” Fakhrul said.
The BNP leader also said Zia ensured freedom of the media and the judiciary, opening the door to democracy and economic reform.
He added that Ziaur Rahman led Bangladesh from a closed economy to an open, free-market one within just three and a half years. “Later, Begum Khaleda Zia strengthened democracy by moving from a presidential to a parliamentary form of government,” he said.
Rejecting claims that BNP opposes reforms, Fakhrul said, “This is a planned propaganda. In fact, BNP was the first to introduce reforms and work for building a modern Bangladesh.”