Ahead of the 13th National Parliamentary Election, addressing leaders and workers of all levels of the party, BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman said, “We have absolutely no time left to sit at home. We must go to the field, we must plunge into the fields, streets, and frontiers.”
On Tuesday, Tarique Rahman said these words as the chief guest, joining virtually from London, at a program titled “Program for Nation-Building Plans” organised by BNP at the Krishibid Institute auditorium in Farmgate, Dhaka.
Asking the leaders and workers “whether they can or not”, he said, “Everyone must be able to. Otherwise, there is no time beyond this.”
Stating that the protection of the country’s independence or sovereignty is only safe with BNP, he said, “If BNP is able to form the government in the future with the people’s mandate, the ‘Anti-Corruption Commission’ will definitely be made independent. BNP has a track record; when in power, we reined in corruption. During the time of the country’s leader Khaleda Zia, an Anti-Corruption Commission was formed. That Anti-Corruption Commission was given so much power that if the commission wanted to investigate any matter of the government, it did not need any permission from the government; the commission was completely independent.”
He said, “The past fascist autocracy changed this rule. If necessary for the country’s interest, we will change it back again.”
The programme was chaired by Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, the convener of the implementation committee for the “Nation-Building Plan” program and senior joint secretary general of the party, and conducted by joint secretary general Habib-un-Nabi Khan Sohel. Leaders and workers of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal participated.
The party’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman said, “Those who do wrong cannot belong to any party; they must face punishment.” He said, “For the sake of the country, for the sake of the country’s people, we must maintain the country’s law and order at any cost.”
He said, “People’s stomachs are not filled with flowery words, employment is not created with flowery words, people’s money and employment do not come from flowery words. To create employment, a plan is needed; to put rice in people’s stomachs, a plan is needed, which only BNP has and no one else does.
“If we cannot unite the people, if we cannot keep the people with us, then the future existence of this country will be questioned. The people want to see if BNP is working, if it will work. If we can do 40%, the people will stand by us.”
Regarding “the issue of Talpatti island”, Tarique Rahman said, “Martyred President Ziaur Rahman was in charge of running the country. How BNP established its rights over Talpatti, which was part of our country, was demonstrated. In exactly the same way, we secured our water share. We went even to the international arena to secure our water share, and we were successful in securing it.”
He mentioned that if BNP comes to state power, apart from a stricter law and order situation, free internet facilities will be introduced, family cards will be provided gradually starting from marginalised people to government officials and employees, farm cards for farmers, health cards for the masses, and skilled manpower will be developed through vocational training.
