BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Monday observed that there could be no mass uprisurge against the oppressive regime without national unity.
Regretting the opposition’s failure to forge such national unity in recent times, he asked the party leaders and workers to work for building alliance with all others to make the unity possible.
“This is not 1990 (the year that saw mass upsurge); this is 2016. Sadly, there has not been any mass uprising as of yet,” he said.
The BNP secretary general made the remark while attending a meeting at the Dhaka Reporters Unity, in observance the day of murder of Nazir Hossain Jehad. On 10 October 1990, Jehad was shot dead in Dhaka during the anti-autocracy movement.
Terming the current political situation “unimaginable”, Mirza Fakhrul said, “The context and politics of the 1990s are very different from the context of contemporary politics. After Jehad’s death in 1990, the whole country lit up in flames. There was national unity then.”
“More than a thousand people have given their lives to protest against the current government’s oppression. But there is no emotional response from the people. The people need to feel the need to protest. The people are our only hope,” Mirza Fakhrul pointed out.
Fakhrul mentioned that there was national unity before the 2014 elections. “But the final victory could not be attained in those circumstances,” he said.
“Had we been able to cash in on the current geopolitical reality, victory could have been possible,” he said giving a hint at the role of foreign powers in Bangladesh’s power politics.
The BNP leader alleged that 90 per cent of the Bangladesh people do not like to see Sheikh Hasina in power any more.
“But she is favoured by the foreign countries who speak of democracy. The neighbouring country is consistently extending its support to her and we have to realise that,” he added.
Source: New Age
