Bangladesh comes first, not Delhi, not Pindi: Tarique Rahman

Launching his election campaign with the slogan “Not Delhi, not Pindi, not any other country—Bangladesh comes first,” BNP Chairperson Tarique Rahman said the party believes the people of the country are the sole source of all political power and therefore is committed to improving their fortunes.

Tarique Rahman said, “Some people say, ‘You have seen this one, you have seen that one- now take a look at this one.’ Dear brothers and sisters, during the 1971 liberation war—through which this country, our beloved motherland, was liberated at the cost of millions of lives—we have seen the roles played by many.”

“The people of Bangladesh have already seen those, because of whose roles, millions of our brothers were martyred and hundreds of thousands of our mothers and sisters was violated, for what they are,” he added.

At his first election rally, held today, Thursday at the Government Alia Madrasa ground in Sylhet city, Tarique Rahman sought the support and prayers of the people while urging everyone to ensure victory for the sheaf of paddy symbol.

Stating that the BNP wants to make every citizen of the country self-reliant, he said, “We must unite against this disbelief, this recklessness and this falsehood. We must stay with the movement to take back Bangladesh. We have freed the country from autocracy; now we must establish the rights of the people. It is not enough to secure only the right to vote or the right to speak—people must be empowered to stand on their own feet.”

At one point of his speech, he asked the packed crowd, “Who owns the Kaaba Sharif? Who owns this world we see? Who owns the sun and the stars? Who owns heaven? Who owns hell?” When the audience responded in unison, “Allah,” Tarique Rahman said, “You have all testified that Allah owns the world, heaven and the Kaaba. If Allah is the owner, does anyone else have the power to give it? They do not. So what does that mean?”

“Even before the election, a party is saying it will give this and that, promising tickets. If someone speaks of giving what does not belong to them, is that not shirk (polytheism)? Allah alone is the owner. Allah has authority over everything. So if they are deceiving you even before the election, you can imagine how they will deceive you after it,” he added.

Referring to elections held during the Awami League government’s tenure, Tarique Rahman said, “For 15 to 16 years we have seen how ballot boxes were stuffed in elections one after another, how fake and dummy elections were held, and how elections took place a the dead of night. Through these so-called elections, the people of Bangladesh were stripped of their voting rights and, in effect, their political rights.”

Tarique Rahman said, “We have seen how, over the past 15 to 16 years, the wealth of the country’s people has been plundered in the name of development and siphoned off abroad.”

The rally began at 10:50 am with the recitation of verses from the Holy Qur’an. Organised by the Sylhet district and city BNP, along with the Sunamganj district BNP, the gathering saw Tarique Rahman take to the stage at 12:25 pm, where he spoke for about half an hour. The venue had already become packed with people before his arrival.

As soon as Tarique Rahman arrived at the rally, party activists filled the area with chants of “Dula Bhai, Dula Bhai (brother-in-law)” Upon stepping onto the stage, the BNP chairperson greeted the leaders and activists by waving to them. Earlier, he had held an exchange of views with around a hundred young students at the Grand Sylhet Hotel and Resort in the airport area on the outskirts of the city.

The rally was presided over by Sylhet district BNP president Abdul Kaiyum Chowdhury. BNP-nominated and supported candidates from the parliamentary constituencies of all four districts of the Sylhet division were present on the stage. The programme was conducted by the metropolitan BNP’s acting president Rezaul Hasan Kayes Lodi and general secretary Imdad Hossain Chowdhury.

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir addressed the gathering as a special guest. Tarique Rahman’s wife, Zubaida Rahman, along with BNP-nominated candidates and central leaders, was also present on the stage. Several local leaders spoke at the event as well.

Earlier in the day, leaders and activists from various parliamentary constituencies in Sylhet and Sunamganj districts began arriving at the venue in small processions. They chanted slogans in support of the sheaf of paddy symbol, the BNP, Ziaur Rahman, Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman.

Many attended wearing caps bearing the image of the sheaf of paddy and party flags tied around their heads. Some also bought plastic replicas of the sheaf of paddy from roadside vendors before joining the rally.

At today’s public rally, the name of BNP’s former organising secretary M Ilias Ali, who was a victim of ‘enforced disappearance’, featured repeatedly on banners, festoons and in slogans. The former MP for Sylhet-2 (Bishwanath and Osmaninagar) went missing from Banani in Dhaka on 17 April 2012.

In his speech, Tarique Rahman mentioned the names of Ilias Ali and other BNP leaders and activists from the Sylhet region who were victims of enforced disappearances. BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir also referred to Ilias Ali in his address.

A designated area was set aside at one side of the venue for the families of the victims of enforced disappearances and of the martyrs.

After the Sylhet rally, Tarique Rahman set off for Dhaka by road. On the way, he is scheduled to address election rallies at six more locations across six districts along the Sylhet–Dhaka highway.

The BNP chairperson will first attend a rally at Ainpur Playground in Sherpur, under Moulvibazar Sadar upazila, followed by another gathering at the proposed new Upazila Parishad grounds in Shayestaganj upazila of Habiganj.

Later, Tarique Rahman will join rallies at Kuttapara Football Ground in Sarail upazila of Brahmanbaria, at Bhairab Stadium in Kishoreganj, at the municipal park in Narsingdi, and at a venue in Araihazar or Rupganj’s Gausia area in Narayanganj. At these rallies, he will formally introduce the BNP-nominated and supported candidates from the respective districts.