BNP National Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmad requested not to do business with the spirit of the July mass uprising. He said, ‘Those who want to do political business with the spirit of the July student uprising – we request them, never go down that road. Because Awami League has been destroyed while selling the spirit of 1971 liberation war. Today they are extinct.’
He made this call in the speech of the chief guest at the Shokrana Sabha and Doa program at the Mochad Manch in Uttara of the capital on Saturday (November 22) afternoon. BNP member Mir Mahbubur Rahman Snigdha presided over it.
Salahuddin Ahmad said, ‘The spirit of the mass uprising of July students, this is the glory that the entire Bangladesh has struggled for democracy, sacrificed itself in the anti-fascist struggle, the spirit of all people. This is the achievement of all people. Therefore, if any political party is formed, if they alone carry, carry and claim the spirit of the July student uprising, it will not bring good results for Bangladesh. Not for them.’
Salahuddin Ahmad said, “We have to evaluate those who sacrificed themselves, donated blood – them, the families of the martyrs.”
Salahuddin Ahmed also said, ‘Everyone said in the speech, Hasina has left the country. forced to flee. I say, it was never Hasina’s country. They never did politics here. Mujib and Hasina have never played a role for the people and democracy of this country. Mujib played a role in this country to establish a one-party, autocracy, bakshal, to establish a one-party state system and to declare himself as a dictator was his dream, he wanted to implement it. Hasina is the successor of that Bakshal. Hasina also wanted to establish a model of constitutional governance, in reality Bakshal and above the facade of democracy. That was the gap between father and daughter. But the product is the same. So, they take refuge there, where their homes are. Where their roots are, they have taken refuge there. We want to apply that language now.’
Salahuddin Ahmed said, ‘People in Bangladesh have understood that Sheikh Hasina herself has proved that she was never a person here. They never did politics here. The thoughts of the people of this country are far away, they have never had a relationship with the soil people of this country.’
Salahuddin Ahmad said, ’24 student mass uprising has taken place. Some say in 36 days. But we have to understand, to achieve these 36 days we have to climb 36 steps of blood. That blood staircase has been built since 2009. All the democratic political parties and forces of this country, including the Bangladesh Nationalist Party BNP, journalist friends, university students and laborers, hardworking people have contributed to this anti-fascist democratic movement to build that ladder. Gave blood, martyred. Seeing Shaheed Abrar’s father felt like that today. That’s what Tuli felt. I am also a victim of disappearance. They contributed to the construction of each staircase.’
Salahuddin, a member of BNP’s standing committee, said, ‘Those who compile this history from 2009 to 2024 will see 209 missing persons. But we have seen the names of 1 thousand 850 people recorded in the Missing Commission. 350 of them have not returned yet. As we have seen, more than three thousand extrajudicial killings have occurred during that period. History before this July mass uprising. We have seen that more than seven thousand people have sacrificed their lives in various ways. Died in police custody. Gave life through extrajudicial cleaning. Gave life through political torture. In this way, from 2009 to 2024, the stairs were built with the blood of those who went missing, who were tortured, who were mutilated in various ways, who gave their lives to free all the people of Bangladesh, the 36-day student uprising of 2024 took place through these stairs.
Salahuddin Ahmad called for building an anti-discrimination Bangladesh and said, ‘Let us hope for that Bangladesh, the Bangladesh that Mir Mocha expected. Let us realize the expectations of the people of Bangladesh, that expectation was the desire and expectation of all the martyrs of the student uprising. That expectation will be the construction of a discrimination-free Bangladesh, the construction of a truly strong democratic Bangladesh, the establishment of the rule of law in this Bangladesh, the establishment of justice in all areas of this Bangladesh.
Salahuddin said, ‘I asked, what are you thanking? They said, Sheikh Hasina was sentenced to death, death sentence, life imprisonment – for that, for that. But here someone has said that Sheikh Hasina will not be tried even if she is hanged several times. Even if Sheikh Hasina is hanged several thousand times, her trial will not end. I filed a case in the International Tribunal, he filed a case in the court. Other victims of disappearances have filed lawsuits. A case has been filed on behalf of many who lost their lives in the July student uprising. If proven, each case will be sentenced to death. How many times Sheikh Hasina will be hanged? It will not end.’
Salahuddin Ahmad said, ‘The history of Mujib and Hasina is the history of killing democracy in Bangladesh. A history of apolitical formulation called the politics of carnage. A history of constitutionally killing democracy. They have no forgiveness. As long as you are not able to eradicate the roots of Awami-Bakshali from this country, the possibility of the return of this autocratic regime will remain.’
Adviser to the chairperson of BNP in the event. Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal, BNP Chairperson’s Special Assistant Adv. Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas, advisor to the acting chairman of BNP. Mahdi Amin, Member of the National Executive Committee Adv. Ruhul Quddus Talukdar Dulu, Central BNP Labor Affairs Secretary, Bangladesh Road Transport and Labor Federation General Secretary Humayan Kabir Khan, Dhaka Metropolitan North BNP Convenor Aminul Haque, Mother Dak Foundation’s Sanjida Islam Tuli and others were present.
