Dhaka, October 7: BNP Acting Secretary General Advocate Ruhul Kabir Rizvi has said that the nationalist forces will never surrender to any conspiracy against the country or to any aggressive power.He said the nationalist forces would continue to fight until their last drop of blood to protect Bangladesh’s independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Rizvi made the remarks as the chief guest at a discussion held at the Senate Building of Dhaka University on Wednesday afternoon to mark the seventh death anniversary of BUET student and martyr Abrar Fahad. The Nationalist Students’ Party (Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal) organised the programme.
Recalling his conversation with Abrar Fahad’s father, Rizvi said he had been sitting beside Abrar’s father at the event and felt deeply proud and emotional when he learned that he had been a student of Rajshahi University and had voted for Rizvi in the 1990 RAKSU election.
“He told me that he had voted for me in the 1990 RAKSU election. It was because ordinary students had voted for me that I was able to become vice-president at the time,” Rizvi recalled.
He said he was deeply moved when the father of a martyr personally told him that he had voted for him.
Strongly criticising the previous Awami League government, the BNP leader alleged that during what he described as the “fascist regime,” Bangladesh’s sovereignty had been weakened to protect the interests of a neighbouring country.
He said the then prime minister had publicly stated that India would remember what had been given to it. According to Rizvi, Abrar Fahad’s “real crime” was that he had mounted a courageous and sharp protest against such submission.
“The attempt to murder Abrar was essentially an attempt to frighten the entire nation,” he said.
Rizvi said, referring to Russian novelist Leo Tolstoy, that feeling the pain of others is an essential part of human existence. He said Abrar’s brutal killing had made the entire nation grieve and awakened patriotic people across the country.
He described the 2024 student-led mass uprising and the departure of the Awami League government on August 5 as the ultimate outcome of that awakening.
Recalling the sacrifices made by the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, Rizvi said its leaders and activists had repeatedly faced bloodshed on the streets but had never resorted to any secret or disguised form of politics, maintaining the uncompromising political tradition of BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia.
“They have preserved their independent existence by enduring attacks on the streets,” he said.
Quoting the Bengali proverb, “Bina juddhe nahi dibo suchagra medini” (We shall not surrender even an inch without a fight), Rizvi said Abrar’s sacrifice had taught the nation how to stand united against any conspiracy aimed at compromising the country’s interests.
At the end of his speech, he prayed for the eternal peace and salvation of the soul of martyr Abrar Fahad.
The discussion was chaired by Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal President Rakibul Islam Rakib and moderated by its General Secretary Nasir Uddin Nasir.
Among others, Dhaka University Treasurer Dr. M. Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, BNP Central Health Affairs Secretary Dr. Rafiqul Islam, Chhatra Dal Central Joint General Secretary Shyamal Malum, Dhaka University Chhatra Dal President Ganesh Chandra Roy Sahas, General Secretary Nahiduzzaman Shipon, and Abrar Fahad’s father Md. Barkat Ullah spoke at the programme.
Thousands of leaders and activists from the central Chhatra Dal, Jagannath University, private universities, medical colleges, Dhaka College, and the Dhaka North, South and East units were present at the event.