BNP acting Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Wednesday said the brutal killing of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) student Abrar Fahad over his patriotic Facebook post had awakened the entire nation to resistance, describing it as a rare example in the country’s history.
“Following the brutal killing of Abrar over his patriotic Facebook post, the way the entire nation awakened for resistance was a rare example,” he said while addressing a discussion at the Senate Building of Dhaka University, marking the seventh martyrdom anniversary of Abrar Fahad.
The Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) organised the discussion titled “The Foreign Policy of a BNP Government: National Unity Against Hegemonism, Expansionism and Imperialism; and Commitment to Protecting Independence, Sovereignty and Territorial Integrity.”
Rizvi said they were becoming frustrated after repeatedly carrying out movements against injustice, repression, enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings, wondering why the nation was not waking up.
“We were mistaken. Sheikh Hasina could not suppress the tide of rebellion of this nation. And because she could not stop it, July 2024 mass uprising was the ultimate culmination of Abrar’s death, when Sheikh Hasina fled the country,” he said.
Rizvi said they could no longer see any hope of escaping from the situation when the country had fallen into what he described as the “clutches of fascism.”
He said agreements were signed one after another, but they were not allowed to talk about those agreements. “And the then prime minister said ‘they will remember what I have given to the neighbouring country.’ But what did she give that they would remember?” he said.
The BNP leader said the underlying message of those remarks was, in his view, the weakening of the country’s sovereignty and independence.
Referring to Abrar Fahad’s Facebook post, he said every word was extremely sharp and incisive and challenged what he described as aggressive and expansionist forces seeking to take control of the country.
Rizvi alleged that national and international conspirators sought to silence the people by killing Abrar Fahad and creating fear among them, but their attempt failed.
Describing Abrar Fahad as the “first martyr” of the struggle against hegemonism, he said, “Abrar’s sacrifice has proved that the people will remain steadfast in the principle that they will not surrender even an inch of land without a fight and will continue to fight till the end to protect the territory and existence of the country.”
Praising the role of JCD in politics, the BNP leader said its leaders and activists had repeatedly been beaten and admitted to hospitals with injuries but had never deviated from late BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia’s uncompromising political line.
He expressed his commitment to protecting the country’s independence, sovereignty, flag and all its achievements at any cost.
Abrar, a student of the BUET Electrical and Electronic Engineering Department, was beaten to death at Sher-e-Bangla Hall on the night of October 6, 2019.