People want relief from current govt, says Jamaat chief at Long March in Cumilla

Saying that people in the country want relief from the current government, Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer and Leader of the Opposition Shafiqur Rahman said the government had failed to keep the promises it made to the people before the election.

Shafiqur Rahman made the remarks as the chief guest at a roadside rally of the 11-party alliance’s long march in the Paduar Bazar area of Cumilla on Saturday afternoon. At the beginning of his speech, he demanded the swift implementation of the Cumilla division. He also called for a feasibility study on reopening Cumilla Airport.

Shafiqur Rahman said that when Sylhet was made a division in 1994, there were simultaneous demands for Cumilla to become a division. But Cumilla did not get divisional status at the time. Asking what fault the people of Cumilla had committed, he said there should be no more “dilly-dallying” over the Cumilla division and that it must be implemented quickly. He said the greater Noakhali area was also demanding divisional status and deserved it. However, Cumilla’s divisional status should be implemented first, he added.

Speaking about the law-and-order situation in Cumilla, the Jamaat chief said, “The law-and-order situation in Cumilla is very good! There is no extortion! Is there?” He then questioned the role of the Ministry of Home Affairs. Referring to the 11-party alliance’s long march, he said the programme would travel to every divisional city. A mass rally would then be held in Dhaka. He urged the people of Cumilla to join that programme as well to press home their demands.

National Parliament Deputy Leader of the Opposition and National Citizen Party (NCP) Convener Nahid Islam alleged at the long march that many children, family members and relatives of government ministers were becoming involved in corruption and various syndicates. This was increasing people’s suffering, he said.

Saying that people were fed up with the government, Nahid Islam said the government had completely failed to run the country over the past six months. He also said the government had failed to fulfil any of the promises it made before the election.

Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) President Col (retd) Oli Ahmed said the government must listen to what the people were saying. People across the country were saying that they no longer wanted to see the current government in power, he said. Criticising the situation in the country, he said allegations of corruption, extortion, muscle power, land grabbing, harassment of party leaders and activists, and drug-related activities could be found wherever one went. He also said the country had been turned into “hell.”

The LDP president also commented on the government’s future. He said people were saying that the government would fall by December. Whether the government did anything or not, he claimed, it would “fall under its own weight.”

Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis Amir Mamunul Haque said that if the government failed to implement the people’s verdict and take steps to reduce public suffering, the people’s procession would grow longer. The procession would eventually swell into a popular uprising stretching from Teknaf to Tetulia, and the government would be forced to be swept away by that tide, he said.

Mamunul Haque alleged that the government had come to power through vote “engineering.” They had accepted it in the interest of peace and stability in the country, he said. But if the government continued its “betrayal and deception” of the 70 percent “Yes” vote, its fate would be like that of the previous fascist government, he added.

Also speaking at the roadside rally were National Parliament Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Jamaat-e-Islami Naib-e-Amir Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher, Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar, AB Party Chairman Mojibur Rahman Manju, NCP Chief Coordinator Nasiruddin Patwari, NCP spokesperson Asif Mahmud Sajeeb Bhuiyan and Jamaat Central Assistant Secretary General ATM Masum, among others.
The rally was chaired by Cumilla city Jamaat Amir Kazi Din Mohammad and conducted by city Jamaat Secretary Md Mahbubur Rahman. Local and central leaders of the 11-party alliance addressed the gathering.

The roadside rally at Paduar Bazar was held beside the Dhaka-bound lane of the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway. A large number of party leaders and activists took part, and many of them occupied the highway, slowing traffic on the Dhaka-bound lane and causing inconvenience to commuters.

Meanwhile, the huge convoy of the long march travelled along the Chattogram-bound lane, causing intermittent traffic congestion and slow-moving traffic. Drivers and passengers also faced considerable inconvenience.

Earlier on Saturday morning, the 11-party alliance’s long march began from Shapla Chattar in Dhaka. The march is scheduled to end at the historic Laldighi Maidan in Chattogram. Roadside rallies are planned at several important points along the Dhaka-Chattogram Highway. As part of the programme, rallies have also been organised at Cumilla’s Paduar Bazar Bishwaroad and in Chauddagram, the constituency of Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher.

The six-point demands announced by the 11-party alliance include immediate implementation of the people’s verdict in the referendum; trial of the July massacre; improvement of the law-and-order situation and suppression of crime; resolution of electricity, energy and fertiliser shortages; control of rising prices of essential commodities; and an end to narrow politicisation at all levels of the administration.