BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman on Thursday appealed to the Hindu community for support and cooperation in the upcoming national parliamentary elections.
“Religion is a personal matter, security is a universal right,” he said while speaking at a greetings exchange programme organised by the Bangladesh Hindu-Buddha-Christian Kalyan Front at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh, in Ramna, Dhaka, to mark Janmashtami, the birth of Lord Krishna. He joined the event virtually from London.
“I, along with the BNP, believe that one’s party affiliation, faith, or ideology is a personal matter — but the state belongs to everyone. Religion is individual, but the right to security belongs to all,” said Tarique Rahman.
He added, “For a secure present and future for Bangladesh, the forthcoming general election presents a great opportunity. I urge our Hindu brothers and sisters across the country to lend their support and active cooperation to the BNP in this election.”
Tarique stated that since the fall of autocracy, Bangladesh has embarked on a journey to institutionalise democracy. However, the path remains fraught with challenges until a government and parliament formed through direct votes of the people is established.
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir presided over the event, which was conducted by the party’s Assistant Secretary for Religious Affairs, Amlendu Das Opu.
Speakers at the event included Khaleda Zia’s Adviser and Chairman of the Hindu Buddhist Christian Welfare Front Bijon Kanti Sarkar, Secretary General SN Tarun Dey, BNP’s Religious Affairs Secretary Rafiqul Islam Jamal, Assistant Organising Secretary Jayanta Kumar Kundu, Assistant Secretary for Marginal Manpower Development Aparna Ray Das, and BNP leaders Ranesh Dutta, Debashish Ray Madhu, Nipun Roy Chowdhury, Tapan Chandra Majumder, Milton Baidya, Jaydeb Joy of the Puja Celebration Front, Sushanta Chakraborty of the Hindu Mahajot, Dhaka Metropolitan Puja Committee President Jayanta Deb, Bangladesh Puja Udjapon Parishad President Basudev Dhar, and ISKCON’s Prabhu Bimala Prasad.
Other senior BNP leaders, including Standing Committee members Goyeshwar Chandra Roy, Dr Abdul Moyeen Khan, Prof Dr AZM Zahid Hossain, Vice Chairman Advocate Nitai Roy Chowdhury, Joint Secretary General Advocate Abdus Salam Azad, and leaders Abdul Bari Danny and John Gomez, were also present.
Tarique Rahman said the people of Bangladesh have endured over a decade of authoritarian misrule, oppression and abuse under a fascist regime. He credited the mass uprising in July, marked by sacrifices from “thousands of martyrs,” for freeing the country from that grip.
He noted that an interim government has provisionally set February for the upcoming election, aiming to restore democratic governance. However, he expressed concern that conflicting statements, conditions, and shifting demands by some political actors are confusing the public and disrupting the electoral process.
He warned that certain political groups — even those once allied with the anti-fascist movement — are adopting tactics reminiscent of the previous regime, engaging in “subversive politics” designed to block a BNP victory. This, he said, had previously turned the nation into a vassal state and a “giant prison.”
“Those who fear that a fair election may bring BNP to power and are now seeking to block that victory with various tactics and conditions, I say to them: confront politics with politics. Trust the people’s strength and verdict,” he urged.
LND/SAE
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