Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has stressed the importance of mutual understanding among political parties in the country, warning that continued mudslinging will only deepen bitterness and make politics toxic.
“If there is no mutual understanding among the political parties, bitterness will arise. There must be a mutual understanding among the parties,” he told a discussion organized by Jatiya Press Club (JPC) marking the first anniversary July-August mass uprising.
JPC honored Jai Jain Din Editor Shafik Rehman, Manab Zamin Editor Matiur Rahman Chowdhury, Amar Desh Editor Mahmudur Rahman and New Age Editor Nurul Kabir and daily Sangram’s former editor Abul Asad on the occasion.
Family members of two martyrs of the July-August Revolution were also honored. JPC also gave special honor to BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Standing Committee member AZM Zahid Hossain.
Fakhrul also inaugurated a photo exhibition on Awami League government's oppression and torture on journalists in the 15 years and July Uprising. A video was screened on the occasion on July uprising.
Describing the political parties' consensus on the fundamental issues of state reform as positive, Mirza Fakhrul said despite various disagreement, consensus reached on 12 fundamental issues.
Mirza Fakhrul said after a long struggle, a new opportunity has been created to build a democratic Bangladesh.
“Everyone should be given the opportunity to express their opinions, everyone should be given the opportunity to speak their minds, just as a common man has the right to get a fair trial,” he said.
But today, not only in Bangladesh, but all over the world, liberal democracy is gradually going down, he said.
Fakhrul said with advancing technology, people's mindsets are changing slowly. As a result of that change, it is seen that it is difficult to maintain politics without changing the ongoing political structure, he said.
“Recently, I went to China with top BNP leaders. Every time I go to China, I see a different face of China. China is changing every day. And their system is different. Our system is different. Look again, the political structure of America and our structure are not the same,” he said.
The BNP secretary general said, “We have actually been freed from slavery, from British slavery in 1947. Then Pakistani slavery began. Then again, slavery began in Bangladesh. We are in this slavery.”
“Slaves have a narrow mind. They do not have the opportunity to see anything very big. I think we should try to see it big. We want a free society. We want to build a free state,” he said.
Jatiya Press Club President Hasan Hafiz chaired the event which was moderated by General Secretary Ayub Bhuiyan
MSH
