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Bangladesh Nationalist Party acting chairman Tarique Rahman on Wednesday urged all to remain united for the sake of national interest.

He made the call while addressing a brief rally as the chief guest virtually in front of the party’s central office in the capital’s Naya Paltan area.

The rally was held before bringing out the party organised ‘victory march’, the concluding programme of BNP’s 36-day events to mark the first anniversary of the July mass uprising, observed nationally on August 5.

‘We may have different opinions on different issues. Those can be solved through discussions. But it is necessary to remain united on national issues so that no face-off-like situation can be created among the pro-democratic political parties,’ said Tarique.

‘I believe that religion, philosophy, and opinion are an individual’s affairs, but the state is everyone’s,’ he said.

About chief adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus’s Tuesday address to the nation, Tarique said that the government had announced a deadline for the next national election, aiming at establishing a democratic government and announced the July Declaration to implement people’s aspirations.

‘Only democracy and the rule of law can ensure people’s security,’ he said.

The BNP leader urged all to apply and practice their democratic and political rights achieved through the blood of many people during the July uprising to ensure democracy and the rule of law and to establish a people’s state and government.

‘A new possibility and an opportunity have been created for the democracy loving people to establish their rights,’ said Tarique.

‘No one will get the opportunity to establish fascism if we can establish people’s political power and ensure the political and economic power of the people, taking advantage of the opportunity,’ he added.

Thousands of leaders, activists and supporters of the BNP and its affiliated organisations joined the rally and the march in Dhaka while district units of the party organised the ‘Victory March’ in district towns across the country. 

‘We have to remember that no one was safe during the fascist regime. Our children were not safe,’ Tarique said.

He alleged that all democratic and political rights, including voting rights, were seized, and the whole country became a barbaric prison for pro-democratic people during the Awami League regime.

He urged all to remain vigilant so that fascism and extremism could not create any obstacle to the journey towards democracy.

BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that the election date would be announced very soon, and the July Declaration had been made.

He said that the party’s 31-point reform outline was Tarique Rahman’s vision, and those were going to be implemented through the interim government’s reform initiatives.

BNP standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed said that the expected reforms would be endorsed by a national consensus-based charter and each of the reform points would be implemented by the next parliament.

This would be the only legitimised way to adopt all the reforms under the country’s constitution, he added.

After the rally, the participants brought out the victory march that ended at Shahbagh intersection.

BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir inaugurated the march and senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi presided over the event.

The event was organised as the concluding programme of BNP’s extensive programme between July 1 and August 6 titled ‘July-August Uprising: Mourning and Victory Observance,’ marking the first anniversary of the July-August uprising that ousted the Awami League regime on August 5, 2024.