Leader of the Opposition and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Shafiqur Rahman today said his party will remain in the parliament as long as it can “fight from within”.
“The streets are our primary arena, not parliament,” he said while speaking as chief guest at a discussion with families of July martyrs and fighters, held at the Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh auditorium in Dhaka's Kakrail.
Amid the alliance’s ongoing movement to implement the referendum verdict on state reforms under the July National Charter, Shafiqur Rahman said, “The distressed people of this country sent us to parliament hoping for change. If we cannot initiate that change, what is the use of that parliament?”
Referring to BNP, the Jamaat ameer said most lawmakers from the party themselves had faced repression.
“The oppressed should understand each other’s suffering. But power seems so ruthless that it makes people forget their past,” he said.
He also criticised attempts to politicise the martyrs.
“Martyrs do not belong to any party; they are the proud asset of the nation. We do not want any division along party lines,” he said.
Referring to the BNP’s 31-point reform pledge, he said, “The very first point was constitutional reform. Now they have taken a position against it.”
He further alleged a “spree of takeovers” across institutions, ranging from Bangladesh Bank and the cricket board to district councils and universities, accusing the BNP of attempting to reimpose “one-party rule in a BAKSAL manner”.
Presiding over the event organised by the 11-party alliance, Opposition Chief Whip and National Citizen Party (NCP) Convener Nahid Islam said the unity forged during the mass uprising still holds, but alleged that the current BNP government has become “the main obstacle” to reforms.
He also claimed there were efforts to render parliament ineffective and urged July fighters to prepare for another mass movement.
“Without a mass movement, the government will not implement reforms. This time, we must take to the streets in a planned way. We do not want to fail or achieve only partial success again,” he said.
Nahid Islam said the July martyrs and injured should not be used for political purposes.
“The government is at times invoking the July movement and 1971 to legitimise its actions. Yet it embodies neither 2024 nor 1971,” he said.
Speakers at the event, including at least 10 family members of July martyrs and injured activists, said the key aspirations of the July movement, including ending discrimination and reforming the state, remain largely unfulfilled.
They also alleged that by not placing major ordinances before parliament, the BNP has acted against the spirit of the movement.
Among others, Sanzida Khan, mother of July martyr Shahariar Khan Anas, said she did not expect the BNP, once an oppressed party, to “forget the martyrs and stand against the people’s verdict” after coming to power.
Injured July activist Kamrul Ahsan urged the government to implement the July Charter in line with the referendum verdict, warning of a broader movement if it fails to do so.
Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar spoke as special guest at the event. Others who addressed the programme included NCP Chief Organiser (North) Sarjis Alam, Labour Party Chairman Mostafizur Rahman Iran, Nezame Islam Party Secretary General Maulana Musa Bin Izhar, and other leaders of the 11-party alliance.
