'We understand very well what those who go to election campaigns with 100 cars will do': Fakhrul

Highlights:

• Fakhrul makes indirect reference to NCP leader Sarjis Alam's rallies
• He urges people to resist efforts to take country towards anarchy
• Says AL never believed in democracy and shouldn't get democratic privileges in future

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir today (25 March) indirectly addressed the rallies Sarjis Alam held in Panchagarh yesterday.

"We understand very well what those who go to election campaigns with 100 cars will do," he said at an event in Dhaka this afternoon. 

Sarjis Alam, chief organiser (North) of National Citizen Party (NCP), yesterday flew to Panchagarh via Saidpur and held street rallies in various upazilas of the border district with more than a hundred vehicles.

Fakhrul also said, "You must have noticed that some new 'kutubs' have emerged on social media. I don't know where they want to take Bangladesh. Their language, sentences, and statements want to take Bangladesh towards anarchy. They don't want to take it towards democracy.

"We should be vigilant to resist such efforts."

The BNP secretary general made the remarks while addressing a discussion organised by the party at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh, marking Independence and National Day on 26 March.

'Don’t blindly follow any party': Sarjis holds rallies with convoy of over 100 cars in Panchagarh

Fakhrul said election is the gateway to election, but a new conspiracy has emerged to deter elections, to help outside forces, and create a chaos in the country.

"Certain groups are attempting to create controversy around the military. We cannot tolerate this against those who stand beside us in calamities," he added.

He accused those who collaborated with killers during the 1971 Liberation War of now boasting too much. He asserted that the Awami League never believed in democracy and should not be given any democratic privileges in the future.

Fakhrul also claimed that BNP is the one who stands beside people.

Expressing sorrow for the deaths during the July uprising, he said BNP is the one who has been fighting for the last 15 years. They have been subjected to false cases, had to be in hideout, could not stay at their own homes, he said.

"The uprising did not come to be in a day, BNP formed the base for it," said the senior leader.

During the event, BNP Standing Committee Member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain recalled Ziaur Rahman's contributions in 1971, emphasising that the goals of the Liberation War have yet to be fully achieved. "We had to fight repeatedly for the true essence of independence," he said.

Another BNP leader, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, praised Ziaur Rahman for establishing a level playing field for equal rights. "He was an uncompromising leader," he stated.