Imperialist Forces Have Attempted to Tear Apart the Nation’s Map: Rizvi

BNP’s Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi has alleged that imperialist and hegemonic powers have continuously attempted to tear apart the map of Bangladesh.

He made these remarks on Wednesday, 20 August, during a press conference held at the BNP’s central office in Naya Paltan, Dhaka.

Ruhul Kabir Rizvi stated: “From the dark chapter of BAKSAL, the martyred President Ziaur Rahman reinstated multi-party democracy and ensured press freedom. But on 30 May 1981, he was brutally assassinated at the Chittagong Circuit House through a national and international conspiracy.

In such a short span, he gave the people security, relief, and the assurance of survival. Yet, the conspirators could not accept this, and that is why he was killed.”

He further added: “The country has once again been pushed into the dark alley of conspiracies. For 16 years, the fallen fascism of 1975 has resurfaced in a new form and taken hold of power.

The nation is being governed through misrule, secret killings, attempts to destroy opposition politics, trampling of newspapers, and the suppression of dissent.”

Rizvi claimed that in continuation of the student and people’s movement, the BNP’s Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman has organised the struggle in a systematic way.

However, he cautioned that democracy has not yet been fully restored. According to him: “Our task is not finished yet. Democracy has not been reinstated. We may still have to cross a more perilous path to regain that democracy. For this reason, leaders and workers of our party, as well as nationalist forces, are prepared.

Free and fair elections have not yet been guaranteed. We continue to hear about different conspiracies and various master plans.”

Several BNP leaders were present alongside Rizvi at the press conference, including:

The press conference thus underscored BNP’s position that democracy remains under threat and that the party, under Tarique Rahman’s leadership, will continue its movement despite alleged conspiracies and political repression.