My right to speak was taken away: Tarique Rahman

BNP’s Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman has said that during the previous authoritarian government, a formal order from the court had effectively taken away his right to speak.

“If I wanted to say something to the media, perhaps the media wanted to publish it, but they were not allowed to do so,” he said.

Tarique Rahman made these remarks in an interview with BBC Bangla. The video interview was aired on Monday morning.
He further said, “I once spoke at the Press Club. The next day, I saw that the then members or committee of the Press Club held a meeting and decided that, since I was legally considered a fugitive, such a person would not be allowed to speak at the Press Club. In this way, they tried to silence me.”

Tarique Rahman said, “I have spoken — through social media and various other means; I have tried to reach people, and Inshallah, I have reached them.”

“So, it is not that I have not spoken in the media — I have spoken. Perhaps you could not receive it, or could not hear it, or even if you wanted, you could not publish or broadcast it. But I have spoken, and I did not remain silent,” he added.

LND/SAE