BNP leader Abdul Moyeen Khan on Monday urged all to work together to build Bangladesh as a truly democratic country where people’s voting, fundamental, human and economic rights are fully ensured.
While speaking as the chief guest at the launch of a documentary photo album, the BNP leader said the economic rights of millions of poor citizens must be ensured in the future.
Without education, culture, and social values, politics cannot truly exist in any country, said Moyeen, a member of the BNP Standing Committee.
Jatiyatabadi Samajik Sangskritik Sangstha, the cultural wing of BNP, organised the programme at the party chairperson’s Gulshan office.
Moyeen said the July-36 mass uprising was not a sudden event but the result of a long struggle spanning 17 years and the sacrifices of lakhs of Bangladeshis. “The explosion of public anger on August 5 was the outcome of that prolonged struggle,” he said.
For 17 long years, he said the people of Bangladesh endured deprivation, denial of rights, enforced disappearances, killings, false cases, and attacks.
The BNP leader said such prolonged repression and injustice created an explosive political situation in the country. He added, “In that context, the anti-discrimination student movement began in July 2024.”
“It acted like a matchstick that ignited a spark, leading to the flames of a nationwide uprising. The autocratic Awami League government was eventually forced to flee the country in disgrace like a coward. This is the true history of the July-36 uprising,” he said.
He said the BNP, along with around 43 other political parties, had fought for years against deprivation and injustice. “Those who fought for democracy endured attacks, false and fabricated cases, and severe repression,” he said.
“For more than a decade, our Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman guided and led this movement from nearly 10,000 kilometres away, and under his leadership we participated in this democratic struggle,” the BNP leader further said.
He said it is true that students were at the forefront, but it was not solely their movement. “In football, eleven players play the game, but only one may score a goal — that doesn’t mean the others didn’t play. Similarly, those who try to credit only the students for the success of this movement may not be making a complete analysis,” he said.
