If we stumble this time, we may fail to stand again: Adviser Mahfuj

Highlighting the nation’s repeated mistakes in the past, adviser Mahfuj Alam has expressed fear that the nation may not be able to stand again if it stumbles this time too. 

He made the statement while addressing a youth festival at the Press Institute of Bangladesh (PIB) on Tuesday. The two-day festival, part of a nationwide initiative, includes photography, graffiti, and video exhibitions.

Adviser Mahfuj said, “After making Pakistan through a blood-shed in 1947, they betrayed us. In 1971, we got this country at the cost of hundreds of thousands of martyrs. Fights took place everywhere, including villages and cities. Still, we could not be truly liberated. Then came 1990, and lastly 2024. We are making mistakes repeatedly, stumbling again and again. If we stumble again, we will not be able to stand again,” he said. 

He emphasised that the current generation must seize the moment. “By the time many of today's young people grow old, they will no longer have the opportunity to rebuild the state. The golden opportunity, which came at the cost of blood-shedding, must be utilised… individual, state, and society must be restructured. The Bangladeshi youth must lead on a global scale.”

The adviser noted that the people have been disappointed again and again. He sought cooperation from all as the government is trying to rebuild Bangladesh as per aspirations of the youth, on the basis of a consensus. 

Referring to a proverb, he mentioned that nobody learns from history. “However, Hasina learned from her father. The activities Sheikh Mujibur Rahman could not complete, Sheikh Hasina continued those through repressive measures. Hasina carried out oppressions in the way the people were oppressed in 1972.” 

He further said Sheikh Mujibur Rahman initiated fascism in the country and tortured the people through the Rakshi Bahini. Similarly, Sheikh Hasina transformed the police and the BGB into Rakshi Bahini, and even polluted the army.