Bagerhat Correspondent:

After 22 years, BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman has said that if BNP forms a government in the future with the support of the people of Bangladesh and with the grace of Allah, the first responsibility will be to reconstruct the country. However, this reconstruction will not be with any single party or group; people of all parties, opinions, classes and professions will have to be brought together to reconstruct the country.

He said these things as the chief guest at a huge public meeting organized by Khulna Metropolitan and District BNP at the Prabhati School Ground in Khalishpur Industrial Area of ​​Khulna on Monday (February 2) afternoon. After getting close to the party's top leader after a long time, there was great excitement and enthusiasm among the leaders and activists at the rally.

The BNP Chairman said that BNP does not believe in just words, but wants to move the country forward through practical work. He said, "In the last 15-16 years, numerous leaders and activists of various political parties including BNP have been murdered, disappeared and killed. Lakhs of leaders and activists have been subjected to torture in cases of disappearance."

Tarique Rahman said that despite this repression, the people of Bangladesh, regardless of party or opinion, took to the streets in July-August 2024 to say goodbye to dictatorship. “This proves that the people of this country will no longer bow their heads to injustice,” he said.

In a speech of about 26 minutes, he said that for the past 16 years, the people of Bangladesh were deprived of their political rights, especially the right to vote. The same picture was seen not only in the national elections, but also in local elections. “Many of those who tried to speak out were taken away in the dark of night, murdered and disappeared,” he alleged.

He said, “Today is the time. The people of Bangladesh will exercise the rights that were deprived of by the people on the 12th.” Highlighting the experience of running the state in the past, the BNP chairman said that BNP had been responsible for running the state before. “If we form a government with the support of the people again in the coming days, then our first task will be to reconstruct the country. But we have to do that with everyone—regardless of party, opinion, class, or profession,” he said.

He also said, “The country can never be safe in the hands of those who do not value people, do not have self-respect.” Regarding women’s empowerment, Tarique Rahman said that out of the nearly 200 million people in the country, at least 100 million are women—that is, half of the total population. “No plan can be successful by leaving this half of the population behind. Taking the country forward or restructuring it—none of it is possible,” he said.

He said that this is why national leader Begum Khaleda Zia, when she was in power, arranged free education for girls from school to college, so that the women community could stand on their own feet after being educated and play an active role in the development of the country.

Advocate SM Shafiqul Alam Mona, President of Metropolitan BNP, presided over the public meeting organized by Khulna Metropolitan and District BNP. BNP's Student Affairs Secretary and Khulna-3 constituency candidate Rakibul Islam Bakul, Khulna-2 constituency candidate Nazrul Islam Manju, Khulna-4 constituency candidate Azizul Bari Helal, Khulna-5 constituency candidate Ali Asgar Labi, Khulna-1 constituency candidate Amir Ejaz Khan and Khulna-6 constituency candidate SM Monirur Hasan Bappi also spoke at the public meeting moderated by Metropolitan BNP General Secretary Shafiqul Alam Tuhin.

Satkhira-1 constituency candidate Habibul Islam Habib, Satkhira-2 constituency candidate Md. Abdul Rouf, Satkhira-3 constituency candidate Kazi Alauddin, Satkhira-4 constituency candidate Md. Moniruzzaman, Bagerhat-1 constituency paddy sheesh candidate Kapil Krishna Mondal, Bagerhat-2 constituency candidate Barrister Zakir Hossain, Bagerhat-3 constituency candidate Sheikh Faridul Islam and Bagerhat-4 constituency candidate Somnath Dey, among others.
Earlier, the formal activities of the public meeting began at 11 am on Monday with the recitation of the Holy Quran and the reading of the Gita.

It is worth noting that this is Tarique Rahman's fourth visit to Khulna. He last came to Khulna in 2004. Political analysts believe that his arrival after two long decades has created a new stir in the political arena of Khulna.