Bangladesh Nationalist party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Thursday warned that if the elections were delayed, other forces would rise and rob people of their aspirations.
His cautionary remarks came at a discussion held on Shaheed Asad Day at the National Press Club in the city organised by Shaheed Asad Parishad and presided over by former Dhaka University professor Mahbub Ullah.
Reminding the discussion that the country鈥檚 people remained deprived of elections for 15 years, he said, 鈥榃e have repeatedly demanded elections after completing election-centric minimum reforms. From our experience, we have seen that in such situations if elections are not held quickly, other forces rise,鈥� Fakhrul said.
The BNP leader said that it was not important who would come to power through elections, but that people had been fighting for establishing their voting rights for the past 15 years.
While political parties differed on many issues, all parties agreed on one thing which was elections were imperative, not for any particular party to come to power, but to pave the way for a democratic system, he said.
鈥楨arlier, I said that if the interim government is not neutral, a neutral government is needed during the election. And we have observed that the government is not maintaining neutrality on certain issues,鈥� Fakhrul said.
The BNP secretary general also called on the interim government to play a neutral role and fulfill its responsibility to free the country from the ongoing crisis.
鈥楴aturally, after the mass uprising, people鈥檚 expectations from the interim government run high. But given the current situation, we cannot be certain that these high expectations will be met,鈥� Fakhrul remarked.
Ganasamhati Andolon chief coordinator Zonayed Saki said that Asad fought for democracy and people鈥檚 liberation, but that liberation had not been achieved.
Bangladesh has failed to realise Asad鈥檚 dreams and the dreams of the martyrs of 1971, he said.
On January 20,1969, Asad was killed near the Chankhar Pool crossing adjacent to Dhaka Medical College Hospital in police firing during a protest at the repression of the people of the then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.
A history student at Dhaka University, Asad was also the university unit president and Dhaka city unit general secretary of the erstwhile East Pakistan Chhatra Union, Menon Group.
Ayub was forced to step down on January 24, 1969 amid a mass movement fuelled by the killing of Asad.
Saki said that despite people鈥檚 immeasurable sacrifice during the period of 1969鈥�1971, the first year into independence came with sheer disappointment. The same way, 1991 also came with deep disappointment after the mass uprising of 1990, as the democratic state the nation had aspired for did not come into existence.
鈥業n the past 53 years, we have only established a state where a fair election cannot be held,鈥� he said.
Saki said that that the interim government must bring all parties together, unite them, and bring about a democratic transformation based on minimum national unity.
鈥業f the interim government runs the country in a way that causes conflicts among the stakeholders, the government will not be absolved of the responsibility in history,鈥� he added.
