Tarique says BNP never resorted to covert tactics despite repression

The BNP chief says the party’s resistance to injustice has continued despite disappearances, killings and legal harassment

BNP chief Tarique Rahman says efforts to suppress his party through conspiracy or propaganda will fail due to the party's long-standing and uncompromising stance against injustice.

Speaking at a meeting in Dhaka on Saturday with families of people who were victims of enforced disappearances, killings and alleged torture, Tarique said the party’s anti-authoritarian movement had continued for more than a decade and a half despite sustained repression.

He said the movement’s intensity had fluctuated over the years, but claimed that no BNP leader or activist had withdrawn from street protests despite facing enforced disappearances, killings, abductions, harassment through false cases and years of persecution.

"When one member of a family was forcibly disappeared, another stepped onto the streets the very next day, pledging to carry the movement forward,” he said.

“BNP activists have never gone into hiding or adopted covert tactics under the guise of strategy.”

He said he believed that a political party whose members were prepared to take such a firm stand against wrongdoing could not be subdued through conspiracy or smear campaigns.

Tarique also urged people to remain vigilant ahead of the election, warning that attempts were being made to create controversy and disrupt the country’s path to democracy.

He said Bangladesh had an opportunity to establish a democratic and humane state accountable to its citizens, but warned that some individuals were seeking to undermine that process.

Calling on people across political lines who believe in democracy, Tarique urged them to stay alert so that efforts to derail democratic progress do not succeed.

“I would urge every Bangladeshi, regardless of party affiliation, who believes in democracy, to remain alert. Some are trying, through different pretexts, to create controversy and once again derail the democratic process. They must not be allowed to succeed.”

He said the establishment of a democratic government was essential to ensure justice for past abuses, arguing that failing to do so would dishonour those who lost their lives in key moments of the country’s political history.

He referred to those killed during the 1971 Liberation War, the anti-autocracy movement of the 1990s, as well as victims of enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and alleged abuses over the past 16 years. He also mentioned those who were killed or permanently injured during protests in August 2024.

“If justice is to be delivered for every injustice, Bangladesh must have a democratic government in the days ahead,” he said.

Addressing families present at the event, he said many had endured years of suffering and stressed that ensuring justice under the law required the restoration of democratic governance.

He called for patience and unity, urging supporters to remain vigilant so that the democratic process that has begun is not obstructed.

The event was held at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in Dhaka under a joint initiative of BNP-affiliated groups and the platform “Mayer Daak”. It brought together relatives of people who were victims of enforced disappearances, killings and alleged torture during the previous government’s tenure.

Tributes were also paid at the event to the late BNP chairperson and former prime minister Khaleda Zia.