Not vengeance, BNP to respond to oppression thru implementing 31-point plans: Tarique

Excerpts from Tarique's speech

• NBP should not imitate what AL did to oppress people
• People want to know what BNP will do for them
• If elected, the pledges that are made now must be implemented
• We need to show people what we have achieved before next election
• Party followers must keep an eye on leaders' activities

BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman today (18 December) urged party leaders and activists to respond to their oppressors by making the party's 31-point state reform agenda a success, rather than resorting to retaliation or revenge.

"If you want to respond to the injustice, oppression, and suppression that have been done to you, you should not imitate what they [Awami League] have done. If we do so, there will be no difference between them and us. If they are wrong, should we become wrong like them? To give a response effectively, we must make our 31-point agenda a success," he said.

Tarique made the remarks while addressing a workshop organised by the BNP's Training Committee on restructuring state mechanisms and public engagement in Tangail, Gazipur and Narayanganj. He addressed the workshop virtually from London.

"Simply speaking about doing such things won't suffice either. People want to know what we will do for them," he said.

Tarique said, "When people know you are a BNP activist, they immediately ask what you would do about this or that. We are at that stage of trust, and we must maintain it. 

"Some say Tarique Rahman only talks about votes. We are a political party; of course, we will talk about votes. Will you be satisfied just by conducting an election?"

The BNP acting chairman said the party must answer to the people and maintain their trust. 

"If elected, the pledges that are made now must be implemented. We need to show people what we have achieved before the next election. We might be unable to do everything, but we will highlight what we have accomplished. Then it will be up to the people to judge," he added.

Tarique further said, "Many of our colleagues have been killed. Over 500 of our activists were murdered during the July-August movement. I do not know if any other political party has suffered as much as we did in the past 16 years. Many of our party members' homes and businesses have been destroyed.

"I have been persecuted. My father was murdered. My mother was tortured. My brother died as a result of their torture. If we respond to this persecution in the same manner as they do, that would not be right."

Addressing the party activists, he said, "People are looking to the BNP. You must also look towards the people. You need to understand what will make the people favour you more. You will have many leaders and workers under your supervision. You must keep an eye on them."

He said any troublemakers within the party must be kept in check. "They might be causing a lot of damage to the party," Tarique said.

"When the dictatorship deprived the people of their rights and held power at gunpoint, I said, 'Take Back Bangladesh'. This meant returning the people's freedom of speech and their economic rights to them," he added.

What happens in Bangladesh will be decided by the people of Bangladesh, Tarique said. The primary goal of Take Back Bangladesh was achieved with the help of the country's people, as the pro-democracy parties brought down the dictatorship, he said.

On 19 December 2022, the BNP acting chairman announced the state reform agenda.

BNP's broader reform initiatives trace back to party's Chairperson Khaleda Zia's "Vision 2030," announced in 2017. 

At the BNP's Sixth National Council in 2016, Khaleda pledged to establish a bicameral parliament and create an upper house, aiming to decentralise power and strengthen parliamentary democracy.

The BNP's 31-point agenda highlights these commitments as essential to its vision for a reformed state structure.

Among other reform agendas, it includes forming a constitutional reform commission, establishing a "Rainbow Nation" based on Bangladeshi nationalism and providing a permanent and constitutional election-time non-partisan caretaker government system.