BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman on Wednesday urged his party rank and file to avoid actions disliked by people and focus on earning their trust and love, rather than becoming overconfident about electoral victory.
Speaking at a discussion meeting, he also advocated for the political and economic empowerment of people to ensure the sustainability of democracy, development and state reforms.
"I would like to ask the leaders, workers, supporters, and well-wishers of my party at all levels to earn the trust and love of people, stay with people, and keep people with you," he said.
Tarique said the BNP would surely emerge victorious if people could exercise their right to vote in a free and fair election.
“It’s good for every leader and activist to have the confidence of victory. But be cautious not to become overconfident, alienate yourself from the public, or engage in actions that people don’t like. Because, in any situation, people are your most trusted friends, and they are the source of all the power of the BNP,” he said.
The BNP leader said the head of the Awami League’s mafia regime fled the country after rendering all state institutions dysfunctional and making the country dependent on imports and foreign debt. "But people are still bearing the brunt of the consequences of 15 years of misrule under the deposed autocratic regime," he added.
Through the defeat of the runaway autocratic ruler on 5 August, the BNP leader said, it has been proven once again that there is no alternative to a greater unity of Bangladesh's nationalist forces to safeguard the freedom of the country and its people.
He said the country's people expect effective steps to be taken and implemented to build a safe and prosperous Bangladesh for future generations, learning from the past.
In the current situation, Tarique said, the plots by the associates of the ousted Hasina regime have not stopped, with ongoing attempts to turn the interim government into a failed one.
He said the Awami League government had engaged in malicious efforts to brand Bangladesh as a militant country to cling to power. "The defeated forces of August 5 are now once again making sinister attempts to portray Bangladesh as a communal country on the world stage," the BNP leader alleged.
BNP wants people’s fate-changing reforms: Tarique Rahman
He urged the pro-Bangladesh forces to remain alert alongside the interim government to resist the conspiracies of the defeated forces.
Stating that the term of the interim government will be completed in just one day, Tarique said a three-month period may not be enough to assess the success or failure of a government.
However, he pointed out that for those who go to the market daily and struggle to cope with rising commodity prices, three months may feel like three years to them.
"So, it’s crucial to strictly control the market, especially to alleviate the hardships of farmers, daily wage workers, low-income people, and the lower-middle class," the BNP leader said.
He warned that if the government fails to bring commodity prices within the purchasing power of people, all its reform efforts could be questionable to the people.
BNP arranged the programme at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh, marking ‘National Revolution and Solidarity Day’, commemorating the ‘civil-military uprising' of November 7, 1975.
On this day in 1975, amid political turmoil, soldiers and civilians jointly freed then chief of army staff Ziaur Rahman from captivity in Dhaka Cantonment, paving the way for him to come to power.
Regarding the government’s reform initiative, Tarique said his party supports reforms but it believes that the reform of politics, political parties, and political activists and supporters is more crucial than book-based state overhauling aimed at political empowerment of the people. "Because, in the end, the state is run by politicians within the democratic process,"
The BNP leader observed that even the highest court of the country had collaborated with fascism over the past 16 years.
"So, we must realise that the political and economic empowerment of the people is essential if we don't want state institutions to become supporters of fascism. Otherwise, the country’s independence, democracy, development, or reforms of rules and regulations will not be sustainable," he warned.
Drawing the attention of the interim government, Tarique said if the people's courts and the state courts or judiciary in the country remain strong and effective then fascism will never be able to snatch people’s freedom and right to vote.
“A people's court is not a mob justice, it means that the ultimate power to empower or disempower any person or politically is vested in the hands of the people,” he explained.
As a political activist, Tarique said he believes that only by making the judiciary and people's courts effective and strengthening them can a significant qualitative reform of politics and the state be ensured.
"If the people's voting right is guaranteed, the state will not need to take the unpopular step of banning or promoting any political party or individual, as the people themselves will reject murderers, looters, money launderers, corrupt figures, and mafias hiding behind political identities by exercising their right to vote," he said.
Tarique said any criminal offense should be tried in the state court or by the judiciary. “But I believe that if the culture of deciding the political fate of a person or party is introduced in the political field or on in the people's court, it will undoubtedly be considered as an important political reform.”
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said the nation was freed from Awami League’s fascist rule through the student-led mass uprising on 5 August. "But, we must now proceed with caution to resist the plots of fascist forces,"
He urged the interim government to complete state reforms to promptly hold a credible national election, restoring democracy and the rule of the people's representatives.
BNP standing committee members Dr AZM Zahid Hossain, Hafizuddin Ahmed, Salahuddin Ahmed, Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Nazrul Islam Khan, Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan, Mirza Abbas and Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, among others, addressed the programme with Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir in the chair.