Senior leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party Abdul Moyeen Khan on Saturday warned that if the transition to democracy聽was delayed further, the people of Bangladesh would rise up again.
鈥業 urge the interim government, you please, do not prolong the path to democratic transition. If you do, the people of Bangladesh will rise again,鈥� he said while addressing a discussion.
Moyeen Khan, a member of the BNP standing committee, said that the people of Bangladesh fought for independence in 1971 because they knew democracy could never flourish under Pakistan鈥檚 rule.
He reminded the government that the people and pro-democratic political parties of Bangladesh had been struggling for the past 15鈥�16 years to restore democracy.
鈥楬as that expectation been fulfilled? No鈥� not even in the past one year.聽 Why not? We have seen examples in the past where fair and neutral elections were held within 90 days. We have that precedent right before our eyes,鈥� the BNP leader said.
The Revolutionary Workers Party organised the discussion titled Looking Back at Bloody July鈥揂ugust: Expectations and Realities at the Dhaka Reporters鈥� Unity auditorium.
Moyeen questioned that why, even after one year, the country had not been able to move forward in its democratic transition.
鈥業 often fear whether this new arrangement may turn into a permanent one. We want change, but not all change is true change. Back in 1/11, we saw banners and festoons across Dhaka calling to change everything, to overhaul everything. But not everything in the world can or should be changed,鈥� he said.
The BNP leader said that when many people talk about change, it should not be changed for the sake of change.
鈥榃hen we talk about reforms, I say reforms must not be superficial. Cosmetic changes will not change the fate of 180 million people. You may amend a few lines of the constitution鈥攐r even rewrite the whole document鈥攂ut it won鈥檛 matter unless the hearts of the people who run this country change,鈥� he observed.
Revolutionary Workers Party general secretary Saiful Haque said that while caretaker governments in the past could hold elections within three months, even after one year had passed, citizens still lack confidence in whether a free and fair national election could be held under the current situation in the country.
鈥榃e did not anticipate that the current government would let the entire situation spiral out of control like this. Inequality has not been reduced 鈥� it has spread even further. Poverty has increased, the number of people going without food has gone up, unemployment has risen, and the overall investment climate has reached a negative point,鈥� he said.
Amid this bleak outlook, Saiful Haque pointed to one piece of seemingly good news 鈥� that the United States reduced its tariff on Bangladeshi goods from 35 per cent to 20 per cent.
鈥楤ut we don鈥檛 know what was exchanged in return. We don鈥檛 know what Bangladesh had to offer. If the deal involved any compromises that could pose a risk to our future security, the government must bring it before the public and inform the nation. They should disclose what political factors played a role behind this tariff reduction and present the facts to the people,鈥� he said.
Saiful Haque warned that the longer the election was delayed, the greater the risk of security threats both inside and outside Bangladesh.
