BNP must pay heavy price if it ignores referendum verdict: Shafiqur Rahman

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer and Opposition Leader Dr Shafiqur Rahman has warned that the BNP will have to pay a heavy price if it fails to implement the public verdict delivered through the referendum.

Speaking at the inaugural rally of an 11-party alliance's long march towards Khulna, Jhenaidah and Kushtia at the south gate of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in Dhaka on Saturday morning, he said the alliance was raising public demands, not personal or party interests.

He said the implementation of the referendum verdict was the main demand among the alliance's seven-point charter, adding that the other six demands would not have arisen if it had been fulfilled.

"The BNP government has broken its promises to the people and disappointed them. If the BNP does not implement the public verdict in the referendum, it will have to pay a heavy price," he said, accusing the party of failing to learn from the past.

He urged the government to accept the demands and called on young people and the public to support the movement, warning that another revolution was knocking at the door.

The alliance's seven-point demands also include justice for the July massacre, resolution of electricity, fuel, gas and fertiliser shortages, control of rising prices of essential commodities, an end to corruption, extortion and land grabbing, improvement in law and order, and an end to partisan practices.

Read More

Jamaat alleges EC complicity in Thakurgaon-1 by-election irregularities

Speaking at the rally, Liberal Democratic Party Chairman and former minister Col (retd) Oli Ahmed Bir Bikram alleged that district administrations, city corporations and other corporations had become BNP offices, with tenders being controlled from there.

Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish Ameer Allama Mamunul Haque accused the government of betraying the people by refusing to implement the referendum verdict. He warned that if the referendum was considered illegal, the government and parliament could not be considered legitimate either.

Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General accused the BNP of moving towards fascism and alleged that the government was pursuing one-party rule instead of undertaking constitutional reform. He also condemned attacks on alliance activists during the Thakurgaon-1 by-election.

Following the rally, attended by a large crowd, the long-march convoy left Dhaka at around 8:00am. It is scheduled to hold roadside gatherings at several locations in Shariatpur, Bagerhat, Khulna, Jashore and Jhenaidah before concluding the programme at Shaheed Abarar Fahad Stadium in Kushtia.

The alliance held its first long march towards Chattogram on 5 September and its second towards Rangpur on 19 September.