We have lost many over 16 years to establish freedom of speech: Tarique Rahman

BNP Chairperson Tarique Rahman has said that people’s political and voting rights were taken away in the past, and that many had been lost over the last 16 years in the struggle to establish political rights and freedom of speech.

He said that over the past 16 years there had been ballot snatching, so-called dummy candidates and elections held at night. “We have seen all of this,” he added.

Tarique Rahman made the remarks on Thursday (January 22) while addressing an election rally as the chief guest at the Alia Madrasa ground in Sylhet.

He said that under the guise of development, money had been looted and siphoned off abroad. “Funds were plundered in the name of so-called development. We want to improve this situation,” he said.

The BNP chairperson further alleged that those who had fled the country and stripped people of freedom of speech and voting rights were responsible for the killing of thousands of people, including Elias Ali, and for harassing citizens through cases of enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings.

Referring to the massive gathering, he said that thousands of people had sacrificed their lives in 2024 to make such a turnout possible. He added that the pro-democracy activists of 2024 protected the spirit of independence of 1971, and that independence was safeguarded on August 5, 2024.

Calling for the victory of the sheaf of paddy in the 13th Jatiya Sangsad election, Tarique Rahman said, “We have completed half of the ‘Take Back Bangladesh’ mission and freed the country from autocracy. The journey towards democracy will begin through the victory of 'Dhaner Shish' .”

He said that the BNP had introduced free education for women and that the party now wants to make women financially self-reliant through a family card system.

Earlier, at around 12:30pm, he took to the stage accompanied by his wife, Dr Zubaida Rahman. The Alia Madrasa ground erupted in slogans at the time.

The rally was chaired by Sylhet district BNP President Abdul Qaiyum Chowdhury, while the party’s Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir addressed the gathering as a special guest.

Others who spoke at the rally included BNP Joint Secretary General Humayun Kabir, Organising Secretary G K Gaus, Co-organising Secretary Miftah Siddiqi, the party’s Sylhet-1 candidate Khandaker Abdul Muqtadir, Sylhet-2 candidate Tahsina Rushdi Luna, Sylhet-4 candidate Ariful Haque Chowdhury, and Sylhet-6 candidate Imran Ahmed Chowdhury, among others.