The sooner Bangladesh returns to election track, the better: Fakhrul

The sooner Bangladesh can return to the path of elections, the better it will be for the country, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said today (9 July).

"We all have a responsibility to save the country together. Every political party has a duty to help bring the nation back on the right track," he told reporters after visiting BNP Chairperson's Advisory Council members Dr Abdul Kuddus and Dr Sirajuddin at the National Institute of Neurosciences and Hospital in the capital.

Fakhrul also said deposed Sheikh Hasina and her associates, involved in mass killings, torture, and fascist attacks on the people, will be brought to justice.

"We have always believed that everyone in any political party that supports fascism and acts in a fascist manner, as the Awami League has done, must be brought to justice,"

When asked by journalists for his reaction to BBC World's special report titled The Battle for Bangladesh: Fall of Sheikh Hasina, Fakhrul said every individual involved in mass killings and repression should be held accountable under the law and face justice.

"Especially the leader of that party, Sheikh Hasina — I believe she is solely responsible for the killing of thousands of people and the torture inflicted upon them," he said.

The BNP leader said the process of Sheikh Hasina's trial has already begun. "We are hopeful that everyone involved in these killings, genocides, and fascist attacks, along with her, will be brought to justice," he said.

Fakhrul added that he also believes the Awami League, as a political party, should be subjected to the trial process. He stated that the BNP has been the biggest victim of the Awami League's repression, torture, killings, and enforced disappearances.

The BNP leader further mentioned that he himself has been accused in 112 cases and has been imprisoned 13 times.

In response to a question, he said that if there is any true democratic force in Bangladesh, it is the BNP, asserting that no other party has fought as strongly for democracy as the BNP has.

Fakhrul recalled that it was the BNP that ended one-party rule in the country, introduced multi-party democracy, and later established a parliamentary democratic system.

The BNP leader also said that those who believe elections are unnecessary should reconsider their stance, as elections are essential for the people.

Fakhrul said Bangladesh needs an elected government that is truly connected to the people.

That is why, he said, the BNP supports reforms and is participating in the process and discussions with the National Consensus Commission.

Fakhrul added that his party believes there is no contradiction between reform and elections, and that both can proceed simultaneously.

Later, the BNP Secretary General visited ailing singer Farida Parvin at Ayesha Memorial Hospital.