Khaleda, Tarique’s sacrifices paved way for July uprising: Rizvi

Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, BNP acting secretary general and political adviser to the prime minister, said on Saturday that the long-standing sacrifices of former prime minister Khaleda Zia and her son Tarique Rahman laid the groundwork for the July uprising in 2024.
He was speaking as chief guest at a Shaheed Jehad Smriti Parishad memorial meeting at the Jatiya Press Club in Dhaka, marking the 36th martyrdom anniversary of Nazir Uddin Jehad, a student leader killed in 1990.
Rizvi recalled that Jehad travelled from Sirajganj to join the movement against then military ruler HM Ershad. The nine-year movement toppled the autocratic regime, he said. 
The 2024 uprising did not emerge overnight, he said, adding that Khaleda Zia's uncompromising stance despite false cases, torture and imprisonment helped pave the way for democracy. He credited Tarique Rahman with building a far-sighted movement from abroad.
Criticising the previous government, Rizvi said the defeated autocratic forces of 1990 and fascist forces of 2024 were linked. He alleged that the country had been plundered over 17 years, with banks depleted, thousands of crores of taka siphoned abroad, and enforced disappearances and killings used as political tools.
He urged the government to identify corrupt officials and those involved in repression, and to show no leniency towards those responsible for extrajudicial killings, murder and embezzlement.