National consensus commission vice president professor Ali Riaz has said the possibility of a new Bangladesh has emerged and the main task is to build it together so that fascist rule cannot reappear.
He made the remarks during the introductory speech in the meeting between the National Citizen Party (NCP) and the national consensus commission.
The meeting started at 10:30 am at the LD Hall of the National Parliament today, Saturday.
Addressing the NCP leaders, Ali Riaz further said, “You agree with some of the recommendations proposed by the commission and also have disagreements over some other proposals. We have been able to identify the points of consensus. We will further discuss the issues that we partially agreed on. The discussion will continue if needed as we want to formulate a national charter that reflects the nation’s aspirations.”
“You (the students) gambled with your lives and forced the fascist ruler to flee. Upon that victory, you made it clear that you wanted a new political settlement, which flared up people’s desire to reform the state,” he added.
Professor Ali Riaz said, “We have repeatedly seen our democratic desires being repressed over and over again throughout our history. We have seen how the victory achieved through democratic struggles and bloodshed gets discarded in various ways, how the desire for democracy gets defeated time and again.”
“Now a new hope has appeared. We will have to work together to build a new Bangladesh to stave off every possibility of fascist rule in future and to give the democratic organs a permanent shape upholding people’s rights. We have to work together so that we can fight off the enforced disappearances, targeted and extrajudicial killings and all repressions and remove such arrangements from our state apparatus.”
An eight-member-delegation from the NCP, including convener Nahid Islam and member secretary Akhter Hossain, joined the meeting.
National consensus commission members Badiul Alam Majumdar and Iftekharuzzaman and special assistant to the chief adviser Monir Haider were also present in the meeting.