Staff Correspondent

BNP Vice Chairman Shamsuzzaman Dudu on Saturday said people feel reassured after the London meeting between Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus and BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman as it signals the country’s democracy is moving in the right direction.

“The meeting that took place in London yesterday (Friday) between Dr Muhammad Yunus and BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman has taken the democratic movement to a higher level, bringing back a sense of relief,” he told a discussion at the Jatiya Press Club.

Dudu said this meeting encouraged the strength of the democratic movement in Bangladesh and assured the democratic forces that democracy will remain on the right path in the coming days.

He said the Chief Adviser’s London meeting with Tarique will be written in Bangladesh history in golden words, and this meeting was expected. “For this, I thank Dr Muhammad Yunus and Tarique Rahman on behalf of this meeting and myself,” the BNP leader said.

Janatar Odhikar Party organised the programme at the Jatiya Press Club.

Dudu said Tarique Rahman has taken a positive step towards democracy through his meeting with the Chief Adviser. “No matter how far away he may be, he now lives in the hearts of people. The support, trust and confidence that people have in him is truly unprecedented.”

The BNP leader said many of those who once criticised Tarique are now among his supporters and admirers.

After the ouster of the autocratic regime of Sheikh Hasina on August 5, he said the nation’s ultimate goal was to establish democracy, an elected government and restore the people’s right to vote.

For the last fifteen years, Dudu said people have not been able to vote for their preferred candidate and party as Sheikh Hasina resorted to deception in the name of voting.

He said Hasina has established such a controlled system of rigging in the name of elections that, although people stood in line in front of polling stations, there was no actual voting, and democratic parties of the people of this country could not participate in the polls.

The BNP leader said Sheikh Hasina propagated such so-called voting as elections both at home and abroad.

He alleged that neighbouring India, which wears the mask of democracy, recognised those elections and congratulated Sheikh Hasina with garlands of flowers.

“It seems to me that our neighbouring country, which claims to be a friendly and democratic nation, is the most dangerous force for democracy, and we need to be aware of them,” Dudu said.

He said the spirit of the mass uprising in July–August 2024 will only be fulfilled when democracy is firmly established in the country.

The BNP leader described the uprising as a positive beginning for Bangladesh, but emphasised that elections are essential for the true establishment of democracy. “All democratic parties in Bangladesh who have taken part in movements and struggles support the election. Some want them sooner, some later—but at present, there is no political party in Bangladesh that does not want elections.”

While democratic parties may have differences of opinion, Dudu said, they are united in their support for democracy and the election.

He, however, cautioned that this unity must not be undermined by internal disputes or overexcitement.

The BNP leader stressed that those who were martyred or injured in the struggle for democracy must not be forgotten so quickly.

Over the past 15 to 16 years, he said, leaders and activists from pro-democratic parties, including the BNP, have been martyred, disappeared, or imprisoned while fighting for democratic rights.

Dudu recalled that nearly 4,750 BNP leaders and activists have been subjected to killings or enforced disappearances.

He said nearly 2,000 others, including young people and children, were martyred during the July–August movement, with many still undergoing treatments in hospitals. “They must not be forgotten so easily.  We need to stand by them, understand their demands and hopes, and work together to build a Bangladesh free from injustice and discrimination.”