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Bangladesh Nationalist Party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Thursday underscored the need for keeping mutual understanding among the parties in the country.

‘If there is no mutual understanding among the political parties, bitterness will arise. There must be a mutual understanding among the parties,’ he told a discussion, organised by Jatiya Press Club marking the first anniversary July-August mass uprising.

JPC honoured Jai Jain Din editor Shafik Rehman, Manab Zamin editor Matiur Rahman Chowdhury, Amar Desh editor Mahmudur Rahman and ¶¶Òõ¾«Æ· editor Nurul Kabir and daily Sangram’s former editor Abul Asad on the occasion.

Family members of two martyrs of the July-August Revolution were also honoured. JPC also gave special honour to BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and standing committee member AZM Zahid Hossain.

Fakhrul also inaugurated a photo exhibition on Awami League government’s oppression and torture on journalists in the 15 years and July uprising. A video was screened on the occasion on July uprising.

Describing the political parties’ consensus on the fundamental issues of state reform as positive, Mirza Fakhrul said that despite various disagreements, consensus reached on 12 fundamental issues.

He said that after a long struggle, a new opportunity was created to build a democratic Bangladesh.

‘Everyone should be given the opportunity to express their opinions, everyone should be given the opportunity to speak their minds, just as a common man has the right to get a fair trial,’ he said.

Fakhrul said that with advancing technology, people’s mind-sets were changing slowly. ‘As a result of that change, it is seen that it is difficult to maintain politics without changing the ongoing political structure.’

‘Recently, I went to China with top BNP leaders. Every time I go to China, I see a different face of China. China is changing every day. And their system is different. Our system is different. Look again, the political structure of America and our structures are not the same,’ he said.

‘We have actually been freed from slavery, from British slavery in 1947. Then Pakistani slavery began. Then again, slavery began in Bangladesh. We are in this slavery,’ he continued.

Jatiya Press Club president Hasan Hafiz chaired the event which was moderated by general secretary Ayub Bhuiyan

Shaheed Abdullah Bin Zahid’s mother Fatematuz Zohra, and Shaheed Jabir Ibrahim’s father Kabir Hossain, Manab Zamin editor Mahbuba Chowdhury, JPC members Bakhtiar Rana, Syed Abdal Ahmed, Zahed Chowdhury, Kazi Rawnak Hossain, AKM Mohsin, Zahidul Islam Roni, Momin Hossain, Rashedul Haque, and journalists from various newspapers and media outlets were present.