Md. Mafiz Uddin Sarker, Rangpur

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said when India releases water when there is no need for water, the suffering of the people on the other side of the river increases.

However, India does not provide water during the dry season. The suffering of the people on the other side of the Teesta never ends. I want to make it clear to this government, the interim government has said in words, you are neutral; you cannot remain neutral in this place.

He said these things at a public rally at Gangachara Road Bridge point in Rangpur on Monday afternoon demanding a fair share of Teesta water and the implementation of the Teesta Master Plan.

Mirza Fakhrul said that in the last 15 years, the Awami League has not been able to bring a single drop of Teesta water.

Not only Teesta, but also from the many rivers there. We have been fighting against the fascist Hasina government for the last 15 years. Our sons are fighting. India does not give water and India has kept our country's enemy Sheikh Hasina as a king in Delhi. It is giving various kinds of orders from there.

The rally was presided over by Asadul Habib Dulu, Chief Coordinator of the Teesta River Protection Movement and BNP's Rangpur Divisional Organizing Secretary, and was addressed by BNP Vice Chairman Shamsuzzaman Dudu, Joint Organizing Secretary (Rangpur Division) Abdul Khalek, Baby Naznin, General Secretary of the Revolutionary Workers Party Saiful Haque, Bangladesh Jatiya Party (BJP ) President Mustafa Jamal Haider, District BNP Convener Shamsuzzaman Samu and Kaunia BNP President Emdadul Haque Bhorsha.

Asadul Habib Dulu said that the situation is now dire in the 242-kilometer and 360-kilometer basins on both banks of the Teesta. Every year, twenty thousand people are displaced on both banks of the Teesta basin. Every year, the loss is more than 1 lakh crore taka. Due to this, the economy of the north has been paralyzed.

As part of this program, the Teesta River Protection Movement Committee is holding rallies, marches and cultural performances at 11 points in Nilphamari, Rangpur, Lalmonirhat, Kurigram and Gaibandha districts along the banks of the Teesta River. Among them, the Rangpur program is being held on the banks of the Teesta River adjacent to Kaunia Railway Bridge in Rangpur and Gangachara Mohipur Bazar. BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman will join 11 points in 5 districts virtually on Tuesday evening.

Present as guests at different spots of the rally are BNP Standing Committee members Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku, Major (Retd.) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed Bir Bikram, BNP Vice Chairman Barkat Ullah Bulu, Shamsuzzaman Dudu, Jatiya Party Chairman Mustafa Jamal Haider, Biplabi Workers Party General Secretary Saiful Haque and Gona Sanghati Andolan Chief Coordinator Jonayed Saki.

Thousands of people from the riverbanks came to Rangpur's Kaunia Railway Bridge and Gangachara Mahipur Bridge points from Monday morning to join the 'Jago Bahe, Teesta Bachai' programme.