BNP Acting Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed has said former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman laid the groundwork for the July uprising of 2024.
He made the remarks at a memorial meeting organized by the Shaheed Jehad Smriti Parishad at the National Press Club in Dhaka on Saturday, marking the 36th death anniversary of Nazir Uddin Jehad, a student leader killed during the anti-autocracy movement in 1990.
Speaking as the chief guest, Rizvi said Jehad had traveled from Sirajganj to participate in the movement against then military ruler HM Ershad and sacrificed his life for the cause.
He said Jehad’s sacrifice, alongside 9 years of sustained protests and resistance, contributed to the fall of Ershad’s autocratic regime and helped strengthen the movement for the restoration of democracy.
“The July uprising of 2024 did not emerge in a single day,” Rizvi said, adding that it was the culmination of a prolonged struggle against what he described as authoritarian rule.
Rizvi said Khaleda Zia had maintained her uncompromising stance despite facing what he alleged were false cases, physical torture and imprisonment over the years. Tarique Rahman, meanwhile, continued to lead the movement from abroad, he added.
According to Rizvi, the struggles led by the 2 BNP leaders helped create the conditions that ultimately led to the July uprising.
Criticizing the previous government, Rizvi alleged that the forces defeated in the 1990 anti-autocracy movement and those ousted in 2024 were linked by a common political legacy.
He accused the previous government of presiding over widespread corruption, the looting of public resources, the depletion of bank funds and the laundering of thousands of crores of taka abroad during its 17-year rule. He also alleged that enforced disappearances and killings had been used to suppress political opposition.
Rizvi claimed that supporters of the previous regime remained embedded at different levels of the administration and society.
He urged the government to identify corrupt officials and those allegedly involved in abuses under the previous administration and take strict action against them.
“There should be no leniency towards those who carried out crossfire killings, killed people and plundered public money,” he said, adding that the public would support the government if it took firm action against wrongdoing.
Turning to the upcoming Durga Puja celebrations, Rizvi said Bangladesh had a long tradition of communal harmony, with people of different faiths participating in one another’s religious festivals.
However, he expressed concern that forces opposed to the current political order might attempt to create unrest around the festival.
He called on BNP leaders and activists, as well as members of the public, to remain vigilant and help protect Puja mandaps to ensure that members of the Hindu community could celebrate the festival peacefully and without fear.
The meeting was chaired by BNP Standing Committee member Amanullah Aman, president of the Shaheed Jehad Smriti Parishad. Former Dhaka University Central Students’ Union general secretary Khairul Kabir Khokon and former assistant general secretary Nazim Uddin Alam jointly moderated the event.
Among those who addressed the meeting were 1990 Students’ Struggle Council president Md Mustafizur Rahman Babul, BNP Chairperson’s Advisory Council member Habibur Rahman Habib, former Begum Rokeya Hall vice-president and MP Shirin Sultana, former Dhaka College vice-president and BNP volunteer affairs secretary Mir Sarafat Ali Sapu, and former Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal general secretary Saif Mahmud Jewel.