Staff Correspondent:

Election is the gateway to election, but a new conspiracy has emerged to deter elections, to help outside forces, and create a chaos in the country, said BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.

“On social media new personalities are emerging, who are trying to create unrest in the country. We should be vigilant to resist such efforts,” he said on Tuesday (March 25) during a meeting organised by the BNP at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh, in observance of Independence and National Day on 26 March.

“Certain groups are attempting to create controversy around the military. We cannot tolerate this against those who stand beside us in calamities,” he added.

He accused those who collaborated with killers during the 1971 Liberation War of now boasting too much. He asserted that the Awami League never believed in democracy and should not be given any democratic privileges in the future.

During the event, BNP Standing Committee Member Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain recalled Ziaur Rahman’s contributions in 1971, emphasising that the goals of the Liberation War have yet to be fully achieved. “We had to fight repeatedly for the true essence of independence,” he said.

Fakhrul again said, BNP is the one who stands beside people. Expressing sorrow for the deaths during the July uprising, he said, BNP is the one who has been fighting for the last 15 years. They have been subjected to false cases, had to be in hideout, could not stay at their own homes, he said.

“The uprising did not come to be in a day, BNP formed the base for it,” said the senior leader.

Another BNP leader, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, praised Ziaur Rahman for establishing a level playing field for equal rights. “He was an uncompromising leader,” he stated.