National Citizens Party (NCP) Member Secretary Akhtar Hossain has said that rejecting the people's mandate is tantamount to rejecting the sovereignty of the people, adding that those who reject the referendum verdict will ultimately be rejected by the people.
Akhter Hossain made the remark while addressing a seminar titled "Young Agripreneurs: The New Strength of the National Economy", organised by NCP Agronomist Wing on the occasion of National Agriculture Day at the conference room of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) in the capital's Farmgate area on Saturday.
He expressed concern over the political confusion surrounding the July Charter and the referendum, noting that ambiguities remain in the constitutional reform order and that some political parties are questioning the binding nature of the referendum outcome.
Akhtar urged the government to remove ambiguities in the July Charter implementation order and called on all political parties to respect the referendum outcome and work collectively to ensure a peaceful, participatory national election without creating obstacles.
He said without reforming Bangladesh's state machinery, ensuring fair prices for farmers will not be possible.
"If the state remains under the control of one individual or one political party and if outdated, ineffective systems continue, no segment of the population can attain true freedom," he said.
The NCP leader said farmers were deprived under the development narrative promoted by the previous Awami League government, noting that many became trapped in debt and were driven to suicide, while beneficiaries siphoned off vast sums of money abroad.
Such so-called development, he said, became a curse for the nation. For this reason, he stressed the need to move away from a culture of political violence and embrace a policy-driven state where balanced approaches guide health, education, agriculture, and all sectors, ensuring equal access to state opportunities for every citizen.
Highlighting Bangladesh's vast agricultural potential, Akhtar said the country's fertile lands, rivers, canals, and water bodies offer immense prospects, yet farmers fail to receive fair prices, agricultural entrepreneurs face obstacles, and expert recommendations are often ignored in policymaking.
Due to systemic shortcomings, even a naturally fertile country like Bangladesh remains food-dependent, despite having the capacity to achieve self-sufficiency if the agriculture sector were managed in an integrated and strategic manner.
He said Agriculturist Alliance of Bangladesh is working toward achieving agricultural self-sufficiency, which in turn would secure food sovereignty and reduce dependency, enabling the state to make independent policy decisions for the welfare of its people.
Terming agriculture as central to the country's independence and sovereignty, Akhtar said the urgent need to identify farmers' challenges and take effective measures to address them.
Professor Dr. Asaduzzaman Sarkar of Bangladesh Agricultural University, NCP senior joint convener Samanta Sharmin and senior joint chief coordinator Abdul Hannan Masud, among others, also addressed the seminar.
MSH
