BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman has laid emphasis on reorganisng the party with talented, diligent, honest and productive people to rebuild the country as it has been battered with the autocratic rule.
“We strongly believe that we will get the people's support (to form government) InshaAllah. After that, we must rebuild our country. If we do not reorganise the party properly, we will not be able to rebuild the country,” he said while virtually addressing the BNP’s primary membership renewal programme on Monday.
Tarique formally launched the programme by submitting his party membership renewal form online during an event at the BNP Chairperson’s Gulshan office.
He also paid 20 taka (equivalent to 15 pence in British currency) as his subscription for membership renewal.
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The BNP leader said their party has already presented a 31-point proposal for overhauling and rebuilding the state before the nation.
“To implement it, we must unite and reorganise our party by bringing those talented individuals to the forefront. We need to unite those who are hardworking, have integrity and ideals, and involve them in the party,” he said.
Tarique also said, “We need good, effective, and productive people in the coming days, as the runaway autocrat has set this country far back and destroyed all sectors. To rebuild the country, we need such people, and we must bring them forward.”
He called upon party leaders to ensure the success of the BNP’s membership renewal programme by organising and uniting all party workers across the country. “We want to reach the grassroots. If we can organise them better, we will strengthen the party even more.”
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He also urged the BNP rank and file to put their best efforts into overhauling the party, just as they had shown patriotism and strong resolve in their struggle to free the country from autocracy, braving all forms of repression.
“The more we can reorganise, strengthen and unite the party, the quicker we can repair and restructure the country in line with our 31-point outline. Let’s begin our work today,” Tarique said.
He said it was a joyous day for all BNP leaders and workers, as they were renewing their membership with the party, which they had stood by despite enduring immense repression and suppression.
“I believe a storm swept across the country (during the Awami League rule), battering every sector. Political parties faced repressive acts such as enforced disappearances and killings. Hundreds of our leaders and workers were subjected to killings and enforced disappearances,” he said.
Tarique said leaders and workers from other parties were also made to disappear, killed, maimed, and oppressed in similar ways as BNP members. “Just as all sectors of the country were destroyed and the people suppressed, so too were the political parties repressed.”
“That storm is over. After any natural storm, people repair and reorganise their battered crop fields and homes. We’ve lost many of our colleagues in that storm, in various ways. Some we lost due to political reasons, others due to natural causes, and some moved away from politics for different reasons. That’s why we will reorganise our party once again,” he observed.
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Addressing the programme, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said training for BNP leaders and workers is essential, as it appears they are drifting away from politics.
“Yesterday (Sunday) we marked the birth anniversary of our founder, the martyred President Ziaur Rahman. Our workers there shouted slogans in the name of different leaders from Dhaka South and North. This is not politics. It cannot be politics,” he said.
The BNP leader said such slogans should not come from the mouth of a political worker, as they reflect political bankruptcy. “We must now make political training compulsory in every upazila and district. This must be done with urgency.”
He also said the party must take steps to transform itself into an ideal political organisation.
“We will not be able to engage in politics merely by raising slogans. We must now focus on merit-based politics. We cannot win future battles simply by chanting slogans if we lack intellect and prudence,” Fakhrul observed.
He also urged party leaders and workers to recruit meritorious and intelligent individuals during the new member recruitment drive to further strengthen the country.
Earlier, Mirza Fakhrul, party standing committee members Nazrul Islam Khan, Salahuddin Ahmed, senior joint general secretary Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, and treasurer M Rashiduzzaman Millat also filled their forms and renewed their memberships.
Following the Sixth National Council, BNP's last primary membership renewal programme was held in 2017 under the leadership of party chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia.