Staff Correspondent:

BNP’s Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman has said that people want better days ahead following the long-anticipated change in the country on 5 August last year.

He made the remarks on Saturday (August 9) while virtually addressing the central council of the Doctors’ Association of Bangladesh (DAB) from London.

He said, “I felt that on that day, people across the nation could finally breathe freely. Since then, they have aspired for even better days ahead.”

Tarique Rahman stated, “Every individual desires change. A long-awaited transformation occurred in the country on 5 August last year. I sensed that people could breathe with relief on that day. Since then, they’ve been hoping for continued improvement in their lives.”

“The people are yearning for positive change. Although reality dictates that it won’t happen overnight, initiatives must still be taken,” he added.

He further remarked, “Expectations have been created among the people. Between July and August alone, around 1,500 people have fallen victim to enforced disappearances and killings, while in the last 15 years, the figure has risen to several thousand.”

“Hundreds of thousands have been injured in various ways during the same period. If we, collectively, can fulfil the expectations of these people, only then can we build the Bangladesh we dream of,” he said.

Tarique Rahman mentioned that people express their hopes to the BNP, saying, “The people believe that at the very least, the BNP will take the initiative. Since there is a strong possibility that the BNP will lead the country in the future, the public hopes for meaningful change from us. We must take the first step towards that transformation.”

He continued, “There’s a common saying that political parties often talk about democracy but fail to practise it within their own structures. How can they then establish democracy in the country? That sentiment lies somewhere between truth and falsehood. Due to various limitations, perhaps that internal democratic process has not fully matured within political parties.”

Recalling the contributions of BNP’s founder and former president Ziaur Rahman, he said, “Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman introduced multiparty democracy in Bangladesh, moving away from BAKSAL. Our leader Begum Khaleda Zia later ousted autocracy and reinstated parliamentary democracy. The path shown by our leaders must be carried forward. We must build and strengthen the foundations of democracy—starting from the grassroots to the national level, and certainly within our own party.”