The dreams we fought for in 1971 have all vanished: Mirza Fakhrul

BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Saturday said the dreams, the aspirations and the goals that were in the heart during the liberation war in 1971, have vanished completely.

"Millions of people sacrificed their lives to liberate the nation. It is our misfortune that democracy has been sent into exile while we are celebrating the golden jubilee of the nation’s independence. The goals, the desires, and the dreams we had in our hearts while fighting in the 1971 liberation war, have disappeared completely."

Mirza Fakhrul Islam came up with this remark at around 9:00am after paying tribute to the martyrs at national memorial in Savar.

Criticising the ruling party, the BNP leader said, "Today people have no voting rights and no freedom even after 50 years of independence. A fascist government is running Bangladesh. Our party chairperson, Khaleda Zia, languished in jail in the false cases. The acting chairman, Tarique Rahman, also has been in exile in the false cases."

Claiming that BNP leaders and activists were being subjected to enforced disappearance and were framed with fake charges, he said around 3.5 million leaders and activists have been sued under false cases. Nearly 600 of the BNP men were subjected to enforced disappearance.

The secretary general said, "The people’s government will be established through a free and fair election under a neutral government and an election commission. The people’s state will be established and that would be a real democratic state. That state will be a free state."