No concessions on 1971 issue: BNP Secretary General

Staff Correspondent. Dhaka, July 19, 2025

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has commented that there is no concession on the issue of 1971. At a discussion meeting organized by the Democracy Forum on Saturday, July 19, Mirza Fakhrul said, ‘1971 is our main point. The war of independence is our main point, there is no compromise (concessions) there. We have no compromise in the democratic system. We definitely believe in democracy and want democracy.’
A summit discussion meeting on ‘Expectations of the mass uprising and the path to the country’s democratic transition’ was organized on the anniversary of the July-August mass uprising.

The BNP Secretary General said, ‘The situation in the country is becoming more complicated as the days go by.’ Those who do not believe in democracy, those who do not believe in the progress of the people, those who do not believe in the politics of building a society free of exploitation, are forging an alliance again.

Stating that mobocracy, murder, and robbery have increased dramatically in the country, he said, “I don’t want to speak against any political party in particular, I will just say that if we lose the opportunity that has come before us, Bangladesh will go backward for many more years. Every time there will be a coup, people will give their lives; an opportunity will be created and we will lose that opportunity due to irresponsibility, this should not be allowed to happen.”

Commenting that the more the election is delayed, the more the situation is becoming chaotic, Mirza Fakhrul said, “The longer it is delayed, those who were against the people and democracy have started working to sabotage this democracy again.” He urged the government to move forward without delay by taking the three issues of reform, charter and elections to the forefront.

The discussion meeting was chaired by Rafiqul Islam Bablu, chief coordinator of the Democracy Forum. Speeches were made by Saiful Haque, general secretary of the Revolutionary Workers Party, Mustafa Jamal Haider, head of the 12-party alliance and chairman of the Jatiya Party (Kazi Jafar), Shahid Ullah Kaiser, general secretary of Nagorik Oikya, Tania Rob, vice president of JSD, Mizanur Rahman, general secretary of Gono Forum, Nayeem Jahangir, convener of the Muktijoddha Council, and Seema Dutta, president of the Women’s Liberation Center, among others.