Bangladesh Nationalist Party secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Tuesday suggested omission of the practice of using a word 鈥榟onourable鈥� as label for certain office-bearers like the prime minister or parliamentary speaker.
鈥業 think the very seed of autocracy is sown in this particular word, honourable,鈥� he told the concluding ceremony of a debate competition at Bangla Academy鈥檚 Abdul Karim Sahitya Bisharad Auditorium in the capital.
He made the suggestion referring to the use of the word at the beginning of a mock debate that marked the beginning of the concluding ceremony of the competition titled Civil Discourse National: 2025, jointly organised by the Bangladesh Dialogue and Dhaka College Debating Society.
鈥楥annot we omit the word 鈥渉onourable鈥� mentioned to address the prime minister or the speaker?鈥� Alamgir said.
The veteran politician said that since its emergence Bangladesh unfortunately never saw the proper practice of democracy 鈥榩ossibly because of the legacy of Pakistani politics鈥�.
鈥楩or a very brief period, the proper democracy, however, was in practice, but then we deviated from that course,鈥� he commented, commenting, 鈥楧emocracy is meant to accommodate diversified opinions and debates and disagreements.鈥�
鈥業 may not agree with someone, but I will give my life for his or her right to express their opinion. This is what we believe in. We believe in this liberal democracy and this is what true democracy is,鈥� he said.
The BNP secretary general added, 鈥楾his is what we believe in. We believe in this liberal democracy. We believe that I must have the freedom to speak, and you must also have the freedom to speak.鈥�
Alamgir expressed his satisfaction with the activities of the current youth, saying that many pessimists preferred to say nothing good would happen.
鈥極ur young people have now gone much ahead of us. I have become very optimistic; many things will definitely happen. We will stand tall in Bangladesh,鈥� he said.
