Left leaders, academics call for national unity to resolve crisis

Sammilita Samajik Andolan and Sampradayikata-Jangibad Birodhi Mancha holds a discussion on forming national unity in the sprit it of liberation war at Liberation War Museum in Dhaka on Thursday. — New Age photo

Left leaders and academics at a discussion in the city on Thursday called on the people in general to build ‘national unity’ in the spirit of the liberation war to resolve the ongoing political crisis.
They asked the government to hold a dialogue and to ensure people’s right to peaceful rally and take out processions.
Sammilita Samajik Andolan and Samprodayikota-Jangibad Birodhi Mancha jointly organised the discussion meeting at Liberation War Museum auditorium.
The leaders also urged the government to fulfill their four-point demand that include completion of the war crimes trials, holding a free and fair election, ban on Jamaat-Shibir politics and ban on violent blockade and general strikes that kill innocent people.
Presiding over the discussion, Sammilita Samajik Andolan president Ajoy Roy called on the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, and pro-liberation political and social forces to resist the perpetrators of violence with a strong hand.
Oikya NAP president Pankaj Bhattachrya said initiative should be taken to build a national consensus for arranging a dialogue immediately to resolve the political crisis.
‘The issue of election-time government needs to be settled under the aegis of our constitution as we as people don’t want to suffer every five years’, he said.
Reading out a keynote paper at the discussion, SJBM member-secretary Nur Mohammad Talukdar said as the crisis is political, it should be solved in politically.
Dhaka University teacher Syed Anwar Hossain said the government has failed to ensure security of the citizens and a group of eminent citizens should take initiative to prepare the ground for dialogue.
Liberation War Museum trustee Sarwar Ali said the law and order situation across the country would calm down if the people united immediately.
Nurjahan Bose, a women’s rights activist, called on everyone to sit to solve the crisis and to save the country.
Communist Party of Bangladesh adviser Manzurul Ahsan Khan, Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal general secretary Sharif Nurul Ambia, Workers Party Bangladesh politburo member Bimal Biswas, Sammilita Samajik Andolan general secretary Saleh Ahmed, among others, spoke at the meeting.

Source: New Age