Mahmudur Rahman Manna, president of Nagorika Oikya, said, 'Democracy means the rule of the majority. But the minority must be heard, even if not liked. The constitution should be reformed. 4 out of 10 for the Interim Government. Those who are in government now are the best in their respective positions. But now they are in another place. We have to get out of the bad culture that exists in elections in our country.'
He said these things at the round table meeting on Unity, Reforms and Elections organized by Forum for Bangladesh Studies at Khamarbari Agricultural Institute on Friday.
Mahmudur Rahman Manna said, “B” will occupy the place of “A” and now is not the time to go to that place and establish his authority. Now is the time, “A” is gone, then we will build such a culture – for the party and the country – through the practice of a better knowledge based on the collective opinion of all the people. Ordinary people gave their lives. The slogan came up in their fight, we want a new Bangladesh. That is, disappearance, murder, robbery, rape, mirroring – these will not work. We will establish something better in its place.'
Assistant Secretary of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Hamidur Rahman Azad said, 'After independence came the opportunity to rebuild the country, we could not do it. But the opportunity has come before us again, we have to do it. We cannot allow any more fascism to be established in Bangladesh. Fascism returns when the nation forgets the history of fascism. Fascism has been resisted in countries that have remained united. The unity we have built against fascism must be made sustainable. There must be national unity on the question of independence and sovereignty. There should be unity on the issue of human rights, democracy and voting rights.
Former Minister of State for Education Dr. ANM Ehsanul Haque Milon said, “In the beginning, we expected an education commission from the interim government, but it is not a reform commission.” If you want to establish Bangladesh as a developed nation, you have to make a permanent education commission. The previous government destroyed the education system.'
He said, if there is democratic practice in the parties, there will be no nomination-trading. There is democracy in BNP. Because of this, there will be no nomination-trade in BNP.
AB Party member secretary Mojibur Rahman Manju said, “'52, '62, '69, '71, '90 every movement was led by the youth. This time the students have given the final form of 15 years of struggle. We can see the change of the future with the youth. We want to build a youth-based Bangladesh of the future.'
BNP Acting Chairman's Advisor Mahadi Amin said, 'We want the reforms that will create a stable environment for free and fair elections. The reform proposals have been given by the simultaneous movement parties for a long time. BNP proposed reforms in 2016. In 2013, Tariq Rahman spoke for quota reform. Bicameral Parliament and no more than two consecutive Prime Ministers—talked about these long ago. When we come to power, we will not call it the ruling party, we will say it is the party responsible for building the country.'
Our main aim is to create employment for the youth. Tarek Rahman said, BNP will provide allowance until the educated unemployed are employed.
Private University Alliance of Bangladesh (PUSAB) representative Tanzil Mahmud said, 'For the past 9 years, students of private universities have protested whenever necessary for the country. In this movement, students of private universities did not come for quota. Because, they don't need quota. We have come down to demand justice for the murder of the students. There will be a demand to give opportunities to private university students at national and local levels. Give them an opportunity to join national politics.'
Adivasi representative Ilira Dewan said, 'The Awami League kept the spirit of the liberation war as their own, and claimed to protect the minorities. So why couldn't the temple be protected in the last 15 years, could not provide security to the minorities? So, they sweet talk didn't work. We all want to work together to build a state without discrimination through the July Revolution.'
Professor Nadine Shanta Murshid, an associate professor at the University of Buffalo, said, 'If Hasina was not a murderer, we might not have seen her downfall. Dignity increases when some people die. Abu Saeed, impressed as well.'
President of Bangladesh Islami Chhatrashibir Manjurul Islam said, “The students want the kind of reforms that the students want in the movement of 24. In our student politics, there is no politics about the rights of students. The first initiative to reform the student politics may be the election of the student parliament. Every year this election will be held, through which the students will choose their own leadership, who will speak for them.'
Rashed Ahmed, General Secretary of Public Rights Council said, 'The list of martyrs is not complete yet. Help was not delivered to their families. What is the government's achievement in four months? The government has not yet clarified its election roadmap. It is creating division. The government cannot avoid the responsibility of the disunity that has been created now.'
Chhatra Dal general secretary Nashir Uddin Nashir said, 'Though BNP's subsidiary organization, Chhatra Dal is managed independently. We do not impose any decision of BNP on students. The murderous organization Chhatra League has corrupted the word lezurvrittik so much for the past 15 years that it has created fear among common students. They set all the worst precedents in the name of student politics. All student organizations in Bangladesh have core groups. Left-wing political student organizations also have core parties. We have expelled 300 people in the last few months.'
