Aam Janatar Dal, a new political party, was launched on Friday with aim to uphold the rights of the common people following the ideals of Maulana Abdul Hamid Khan Bhasani.
“We will free the people of Bangladesh from the slavery of the Awami League and the BNP,” Convener and Spokesperson of the party M Inamul Haque said at the National Press Club in the capital.
“Our kings have increased their wealth by looting banks and also embezzling wealth and money of the people,” he said adding: “We do not want to remain the subjects of the king anymore. We are the common people.”
The AJD spokesperson said the country men had been divided into two parts – king and subject – since its independence.
He said they would follow the path of Maulana Bhasani, the president of erstwhile East Pakistan Muslim League and one of the founders of the Awami League, who was popular for his pro-people stance.
The AJD’s central committee, party constitution and its principles will be announced soon. Inamul said they would join the next general election.
Former director general of Bangladesh Haor and Wetland Development Board, Inamul is an Executive Committee member of the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports. He is also the convener of Deshpremik Jote and chairman of Deshpremik Janagan Mancha.
Some 20 leaders and activists of the party including Executive Committee members AKM Serajul Islam and Tushar Rehman joined the press conference. Sheikh Mohammad Shahidullah, convener of the National Committee, attended the event as a guest.
The party recently released membership forms on Facebook. Speakers at the inaugural programme said they were getting response of the “conscious people at home and abroad.”
The move comes two weeks after the 10th parliamentary election and nearly months after Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam Admi Party (party of the commoners) won the election in Delhi. Factors such as Anna Hazare's Jan Lokpal movement of 2011 and the Delhi gang-rape agitation of 2012 had charged a furious electorate to vote for the newly-floated party.
Apart from the stunning victory of Aam Admi Party, Inamul said they were inspired by last year’s Shahbagh movement demanding capital punishment for the collaborators of 1971 Liberation War and the non-violent Arab Spring in the Middle East against suppressive rulers.
In June 2012, citizens’ platform Nagorik Oikko, led by former AL leader Mahmudur Rahman Manna, was formed with a view to raise a third political force beyond the AL and the BNP.
