Awami League voluntarily accepted India’s servitude to cling on to power: Sarjis

Jatiya Nagorik Committee’s chief organiser Sarjis Alam said Awami League voluntarily accepted India’s servitude in the last 16 years to secure its power.

“Power was more valuable to them (Awami League) than the country, people and sovereignty. They wanted to hold on to power by any means,” Sarjis said while addressing a roundtable discussion in Chattogram today, Saturday.

Islami Andolan Bangladesh organised the roundtable at Polo Ground in Chattogram city this afternoon titled ‘Necessity of national unity in fighting India’s political and cultural aggression, finding solutions to Chattogram’s regional problems and founding the discrimination-free welfare state’.

Representatives of political parties, university teachers, journalists and people from different professions joined the meeting.

Sarjis said India had its own interest behind supporting the Bangladesh’s liberation war.

“The young generation needs to be made aware of how India participated in this liberation war. It was not only for the people of Bangladesh, but also to save its own states known as Seven Sisters. The Seven Sisters were almost in rebellion before 1971 due to various reasons and as a large part of Pakistan was adjacent to the Seven Sisters, India was afraid of being divided...’

Sarjis said that it is necessary to discuss India’s cultural aggression and dominance.

He said the cultural aggression was the worst form of aggression India carried out in recent years.

Speaking at the programme as chief guest, Islami Andolan Bangladesh’s ameer (chief) mufti Syed Mohammad Rezaul Karim said, “Many quarters are highlighting the election over and again. There is nothing to be so restless about. Election is a must. But what is the condition of the country now? There are instability everywhere. So we must become united. We must raise our voice against various conspiracies including India’s and the effort to destabilize the country through reaching a national unity.”

Islami Andolan Bangladesh’s nayeb e ameer Syed Mohammad Faizul Karim demanded overhauling of the curriculum prepared by the previous government.

Jamaat-e-Islami’s Chattogram chapter’s ameer Shahjahan Chowdhury said the people of the country back the anti-discrimination student movement.

“We Islamist parties support all their future programmes and plans,” he added.

Chaired by Muhammad Jannatul Islam, president of Islami Andolan Bangladesh Chattagram city unit and moderated by the party's senior joint secretary general Gazi Ataur Rahman, the meeting was addressed, among others, by the party’s presidium member professor Ashraf Ali, Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh city unit president Tajul Islam, Nagorik Committee’s central leader Ashraf Uddin, BNP city unit’s health and family welfare secretary SM Sarwar Alam, district bar association president Md Nazimuddin Chowdhury, Anti-Discrimination Student Movement central executive member Rasel Ahmed, co-coordinator Khan Talat Mahmud, Khelafat Majlis Chattogram city president professor Khurshid Alam and Jamiat-e-Ulama-e-Islam Chattogram city president Maulana Zakaria.