‘We must choose the liberal path’

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir yesterday said the upcoming election would decide whether Bangladesh remains on a liberal democratic course or slips into the grip of what he described as extremist and anti-state forces.

“We must choose the liberal path,” he said while addressing a discussion at the Institution of Diploma Engineers in the capital.

Calling on Jamaat-e-Islami to practise what he termed “straightforward politics,” Fakhrul urged the party to refrain from using religion to mislead voters.

“If you choose the path of politics, walk it with honesty. To mislead people by claiming that a vote cast for a particular symbol will secure a ticket to heaven raises troubling questions about hypocrisy,” he said.

Fakhrul alleged that the BNP is facing a “planned and orchestrated campaign” because it is, he claimed, “poised for a landslide election victory”.

“The worst mischief is being done by those who did not even accept Bangladesh in the past, who did not believe in its independence, and who tortured and abducted our mothers and sisters. We have not forgotten that history,” he said.

He said he felt compelled to speak out in response to what he described as propaganda being spread in various ways.

With 23 days left before the election, Fakhrul dismissed claims by some groups that the polls would not be allowed to take place.

“Check quietly and you will see that they do not even have three votes, yet they make loud claims,” he said.

“We want the election. If the people choose us, we will be in power. If the people reject us, we will sit in the opposition. Why shout in advance?” he added.

Referring to the consensus commission’s reform proposals, Fakhrul accused it of “betrayal,” alleging that issues lacking agreement had been included despite earlier understandings.

“Where there was consensus, the answer was clearly ‘yes’,” he said. “But proposals we did not agree with were also included. Even then, we accepted them in the greater interest of the country. The rest will be addressed in parliament.”

He also said many of the reforms now being promoted by the interim administration had previously been proposed by the BNP. Citing BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman’s 31-point proposal unveiled in 2022, Fakhrul claimed the current reform agenda reflects those ideas.

“Yet people keep asking whether we support reform or oppose it. These questions are repeatedly used to create confusion,” he said.