Fight will continue until all the traces of fascism are evicted: Shafiqur

Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Shafiqur Rahman on Thursday said the opposition party’s fight would continue on the streets and in the parliament until the final traces of fascism are evicted from the country.

He also urged the BNP government to avoid disrespecting people’s calls for fundamental state reforms, warning that whoever insulted people’s mandate in history had to pay dearly.

The Opposition Leader made the remarks while speaking at a mass gathering organised by the party’s Mirpur unit at a venue adjacent to the Falpatti area in Mirpur-10.

Shafiqur hinted that after a long time, some in the government may be finally be coming to their senses about implementing the crucial provisions of the July Charter, a set of state reform measures the majority of voters endorsed in a referendum in February.

Even if they are late, following consistent denial to implement the charter in full, they still can learn to accept the reality as it is and implement the complete charter as desired by the people. If a government respects the people’s words, the people would return the favour, Shafiqur said adressing the BNP government.

He also alleged that so far the government has not taken any step for properly compensating and recognising the July Uprising activists and their sacrifices, which have ensured that BNP can taste power after 15 years of fascist rule by Awami League.

The Jamaat chief called on the government to take the following measures: pay gratitude to the July Uprising participants in the “proper manner,” ensure justice for the atrocities they endured, accord the highest state honours on them, give proper state recognition to the martyrs’ families, facilitate adequate medical services for the injured, take steps so that the injured can spend the rest of their lives with dignity, and name roads and other establishments across the country after the July Fighters and Martyrs.

Shafiqur further said that the government is calling the referendum verdict invalid. Yet the Prime Minister himself campaigned in favour of a "Yes" vote in the referendum. Jamaat did so as well, Shafiqur said.

If the referendum was invalid, because the order under which it was held can be deemed “unconstitutional,” then the government and parliament are also invalid as they were elected under the same order.

There is no way for the “meat to be halal while the broth is haram,” Shafiqur noted. So, if the referendum is haram, then the general election and the government it elected is haram as well. And if the government is haram, then there is no legitimate government in the country.

He stressed the importance of the people's mandate, saying that the people's will stands above everything else, and that necessity overrides any law. He urged the government to stop delaying and immediately take effective steps to implement the July Charter. Otherwise, he warned, it would have to pay a heavy price.

In his presidential address, Mohammad Selim Uddin, Jamaat’s chief in the Dhaka North city unit, said there was no scope to bypass the people's verdict under any circumstances. To build a new Bangladesh in the spirit of July, everyone must unite once again for implementing the July Charter in full.

He alleged that the government is trying to avoid this responsibility through various pretexts and by citing constitutional constraints. Yet, he noted, the Prime Minister and other top government leaders had publicly campaigned for a "Yes" vote in the referendum. Therefore, he said, the people would not allow the government to ignore the referendum verdict and would compel it to implement it at any cost. He urged the government to act wisely while there is still time and take effective steps to implement the July Charter, warning that otherwise it would have to pay a heavy price.