Prime minister Tarique Rahman on Monday urged the people of the country to remain alert against spreading confusion and creating disorder in the country over the referendum and the July Charter, saying that some individuals and political parties were trying to serve their own political interests over the issue.
‘Everyone must remain alert about those who are trying to divert the verdict of the referendum in a different direction and representing the July Charter in a wrong way for their own political interests,’ he said, mentioning that some individuals and political parties were now trying to divert the referendum in a different direction and creating disorder by misleading the country’s people.
Tarique Rahman, also ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairman, made the remarks while addressing a brief gathering after launching the re-excavation work of the Ulashi Canal at Sharsha in Jashore, which had been inaugurated by the late president Ziaur Rahman in 1976.
Tarique Rahman unveiled the foundation stone of the 500-bed Jashore Medical College Hospital at Harinar Beel in Chachra area in the town. He also visited the Jashore Institute Public Library.
Turning to the July Charter, the prime minister said that the BNP had signed the July Charter with political parties at the South Plaza of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban.
‘BNP will implement every clause and every line of that July Charter will be passed in the parliament,’ he added.
Urging all to remain vigilance against those who are trying to spread confusion in the country, Tarique Rahman said, ‘Those, who had tried to mislead the country’s people during the Liberation War in 1971, and later in 1986 and 2009, are now trying to mislead people again in 2026.’
‘So, we must remain alert as we need to build the country, take it forward and change the fate of our country’s people,’ he said, urging all to remain united to build the nation.
He also mentioned that it would not be possible to hold back the people of Bangladesh by fear tactics. ‘People of the country cannot be subdued.’
Warning that no one would be allowed to disrupt public peace in the country, the prime minister said, ‘Let us remain alert so that no one can create disorder in the country again. We will not allow anyone to get the chance to observe hartals for 173 days anymore by destroying public peace.’
At that time, he highlighted statistics of sacrifices made by, repression on, and false cases filed against leaders and activists of the BNP during previous movements.
Noting that through implementation of the election promises, the government will be able to change the country’s fate, he said, ‘The ultimate source of all power of BNP is the people of Bangladesh. Thus, BNP wants to complete the unfinished work left by the late president Ziaur Rahman for the welfare of the people.’
Tarique Rahman said that implementation of the unfinished works left by BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia, which were not executed over the past 20 years by the previous fascist government, had now been resumed by her party BNP for the welfare of the country’s people.
Noting that BNP does those works that benefit the people, he said, ‘We do not want to sell tickets; rather, we want to do real work. That is why we say, “Karbo Kaj, Garbo Desh, Sabar Aage Bangladesh”.’
The prime minister called upon the country’s people to work together to build the country.
Since the people have trust in the BNP, he said, they gave their mandate to the party through the 12 February election. ‘The people have given us the responsibility to implement our electoral promises.’
However, a group of people do not like this public mandate and, thus, they have been delivering speeches in different places, labelling BNP as a cohort of fascism, he said, urging the people to find out who were actually the collaborators of the fascism.
‘After August 5, BNP clearly stated that those responsible for killings in July-August must face justice. But, we saw some people saying “we have pardoned everyone”,’ he said.
He said that it was noticed recently that those, who speak loudly, were the same people who went far from Dhaka to hold a meeting with collaborators of fascism, and when people surrounded the place, they could not explain why they had met them.
Tarique Rahman said that the BNP government’s priorities included ensuring education for women and arranging measles vaccine for children.
‘BNP government’s priority is now ensuring education for mothers and sisters, arranging measles vaccines for children, reaching out healthcare services to the doorsteps of the people across the country, creating jobs for unemployed youth, giving support to farmers and ensuring education for all,’ he added.
Noting that the country’s women face difficulty every day to arrange food for the family, he said, ‘They have to cook, and for that they need gas or firewood. This creates problems.’
‘Therefore, we have made a plan two days ago that, just like we have provided Family Card to mothers, we will also provide LPG cards to the same mothers across Bangladesh so that they do not have to suffer in cooking and can prepare meals without worry. Gradually, we will implement this plan as well,’ he said.
Jashore district BNP organised the rally with its president Syed Saberul Haque Sabu in the chair.
BNP vice -chairman Professor Nargis Begum, joint general secretary and Water Resources Minister Md Shahiduddin Chowdhury Anee, State Minister Forhad Hossain Azad and State Minister for Energy and Mineral Resources Aninda Islam Amit also spoke at the rally.
