Staff repoter:
State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam has said the BNP wants to do politics involving all communities in the country, including ethnic groups, regardless of religion and ethnicity.
“The party wants to win the people’s votes in the next election through the economic and social development of the people,” he said while addressing a press briefing at Shibganj Upazila Parishad of the district yesterday.
Shahe Alam said the BNP, founded by Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman, believes in Bangladeshi nationalism. The party has no intention of pursuing politics by exploiting any religion or particular community, he added.
Emphasizing the need to ensure freedom of expression while maintaining civility in speech, he said some opposition leaders were using indecent language and showing disrespect towards national leaders.
Such remarks would not be well received by the people if they continue, he said, adding that the public expected responsible behaviour from the opposition.
Criticizing the opposition’s programmes over the energy crisis, Mir Shahe Alam said the government should be given time to address the issue.
The State Minister said opposition leaders had acted deceptively by failing to attend the inauguration of a memorial built in honour of the martyrs of July-August despite being invited, offering flimsy excuses for their absence.
“Those who spend all day engaging in politics and raising their voices over July-August have demonstrated their duplicity by failing to attend the inauguration despite receiving invitations,” he said.
Mir Shahe Alam said Prime Minister Tarique Rahman attended as the chief guest at the inauguration of the July Memorial, built by the government, at Osmani Udyan on October 19.
He said the Dhaka South City Corporation had invited the presidents and general secretaries of all like-minded, allied and coalition political parties to the programme. The corporation’s administrator, Md Abdus Salam, had not only sent invitation cards but also confirmed the invitations to everyone over the telephone, he added.
He said the Prime Minister inaugurated the memorial and Osmani Udyan, which had been modernised after 10 years, alongside the fathers of martyrs Mir Mugdho, Abu Sayed and Anas, as well as the mother of another martyr.
However, he said, representatives of the political parties who speak about July throughout the day did not attend the programme.
The names of 834 officially gazetted martyrs are inscribed on this memorial, which, according to the state minister, is the only such monument in Bangladesh.
Referring to a statement by the secretary general of Jamaat-e-Islami, Mir Shahe Alam said the argument that opposition leaders had stayed away because their leader’s name was not mentioned on the invitation card was incorrect.
He said the names of veteran politician Mahmudur Rahman Manna, national leader Saiful Haque, and BNP Standing Committee member and Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed were not on the invitation card, but the Prime Minister invited them onto the stage during the programme.
Speaking about the current political positions of Jamaat-e-Islami and other opposition parties, the state minister said they were spreading various forms of confusion across the country in the name of a one-point demand.
The countrymen had seen in the past the consequences and outcomes of politics that uses a particular religion or religious community as a political tool, he said.
Referring to the political ideology of the BNP, Mir Shahe Alam said the party did not conduct politics by exploiting any particular religion or specific community.
He further said five seats had been kept vacant for opposition representatives on the Constitutional Amendment Committee to implement the July Charter.
The state minister urged opposition parties to abandon confrontation, join the committee and take part in implementing the July Charter, calling on them to nominate five representatives promptly and play a responsible role.
After the press briefing, the state minister handed over Taka 500,000 to the family of Firoza, who was killed in a road accident, in Kichak Haripur village.
