Movement to continue in house and on the streets

Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer and Opposition Leader Shafiqur
Rahman yesterday said the party’s movement would continue both in parliament
and on the streets against what he termed “the government’s deception and
betrayal”.
Addressing a divisional rally of the Jamaat-led
11-party alliance at the Madrasa Field in Rajshahi city as the chief guest, he
said, “The 16 ordinances, without the implementation of which good governance
in Bangladesh cannot be ensured, have been shelved. If those are not
implemented, I promise you that our movement will continue in parliament and
simultaneously on the streets.
“Through sacrifice
and struggle, Allah has removed the fascist rule from our chests. Political
change came through a mass movement led by the youth, and the current rulers
are enjoying the benefits of that movement.”
Shafiqur added that ignoring the verdict of the referendum
would amount to insulting the people. “No one in the past has been able to
escape after standing against the people, and you the government cannot escape
either. The verdict of the referendum will also be implemented.”
Criticising the ruling BNP, the Jamaat chief said
political domination and extortion continued in the country. “Your [the BNP’s]
name used to be the [Bangladesh] Nationalist Party. Now people call it the
extortionist party,” he said, calling for social resistance against corruption
and extortion.
He added, “In a place where the speaker’s permission
is needed to speak, if we are not allowed to speak there, we’ll go where no
speaker’s permission is required. We will go to ‘the people’s parliament’.”
Shafiqur also said that while past contributions and
roles should be respected, the nation could not move forward by remaining stuck
in the past. “We will study history, but we will not remain confined to it. We
will learn lessons from it.”
Welcoming the government’s announcement regarding the
Padma Barrage, the Jamaat chief said it should not remain merely a symbolic
declaration.
Demanding implementation of the Teesta mega project,
he said the project must be carried out to alleviate the suffering of around
2.5 crore people living along the banks of the Teesta and two other rivers.
Referring to neighbouring India, he said, “We want you
to live in peace and create a humane environment within your own country. If
you interfere with our peace, no one’s peace will remain.”
The rally was presided over by Jamaat-e-Islami
Assistant Secretary General Rafiqul Islam Khan and moderated by Rajshahi city
Jamaat Secretary Emaz Uddin Mondol.
LDP Chairman Oli Ahmad; Jamaat Nayeb-e-Ameer and
Rajshahi-1 MP Mujibur Rahman; Bangladesh Development Party Chairman Anwarul
Islam; Bangladesh Labour Party Chairman Mostafizur Rahman; Khelafat Majlish
Nayeb-e-Ameer Sirajul Haque; Bangladesh Nezam-e-Islami Ameer Abdul Quayyum
Subhani; Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish Secretary General Jalal Uddin Ahmad; and
National Citizen Party Northern Region Chief Coordinator Sarjis Alam also spoke
at the rally, among others.
















