Opposition Leader and Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Shafiqur Rahman has alleged that the government is trying to impose autocratic rule on the people. He added that the government is refusing to respect the public mandate expressed through the referendum.
“The people voted, but the government is refusing to accept their verdict. The government is insulting the people, betraying them, deceiving them and spreading falsehoods. We will not accept this,” he said.
He made the remarks on Saturday at a roadside rally in Naodoba, Jajira upazila, Shariatpur, as part of an 11-party alliance’s long march from Dhaka to Khulna, Jashore, Jhenaidah and Kushtia to press for the implementation of the referendum verdict and six other demands.
Pledging to implement all seven demands, Shafiqur said the alliance would fulfil them if the people stood with it. He identified the implementation of the referendum verdict as the first demand.
Criticising the government further, he said the people would not accept injustice and urged them to remain united and continue supporting the movement.
Later, as the long march crossed the Padma Bridge, Shafiqur also addressed party activists at the bridge’s Mawa end in Louhajang upazila of Munshiganj. Activists from different areas joined the march there.
Among others, Jamaat Secretary General Professor Mia Golam Parwar, Khelafat Majlis Ameer Maulana Mamunul Haque and the party’s Secretary General Maulana Jalaluddin Ahmed addressed the gatherings, along with other leaders of the 11-party alliance.
The alliance’s seven demands include implementation of the referendum verdict, trial of the July massacre, resolution of electricity, fuel, gas and fertiliser shortages, control of rising prices of essential commodities, improvement of law and order, an end to narrow partisan appointments, and an end to corruption, extortion and illegal occupation.
The long march began at the south gate of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in Dhaka. It is scheduled to travel first to Khulna, then through Jashore and Jhenaidah, before ending in Kushtia.
