RANGPUR, Nov 14, 2024 (BSS) – Without thinking about his two minor sons and his wife, thinking only about the country and even being a Major, Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman declared independence from Kalurghat in Chattogram, said BNP Standing Committee member Dr AZM Zahid Hossain.  
 
“Shaheed Zia didn’t just sit there declaring independence. He himself fought. He was a senior major then. Yet he became a victim of discrimination in independent Bangladesh,” he said.
 
Dr Zahid said this as the chief guest at a discussion, organized jointly by Rangpur district and Metropolitan units of BNP this afternoon on the occasion of the historic 7th November National Revolution and Solidarity Day.  
 
Rangpur Metropolitan BNP Convener Shamsuzzaman Samu presided over the discussion held at the district Shilpokola Academy auditorium in the city.
 
Organizing Secretary of BNP Central Executive Committee (Rangpur division) Principal Asadul Habib Dulu, its Rural Development Affairs Secretary Farhad Hossain Azad, Assistant Organizing Secretaries Abdul Khaleque and Professor Aminul Islam spoke as special guests.

Dhaka University teacher and social and political analyst Dr Abdullah Al Mamun spoke as the main discussant, while Rangpur district BNP convener Md Saiful Islam also spoke at the programme.
 
Dr Zahid said, many people will say many things, Gen Z may say, Bangladesh became independent on August 5. It should be said in clear language, if not for 1947, it would have been 1971, if not for 1990, it would not have been August 5, 2024.
 
“Therefore, we have to move forward in a new way, keeping the past in front. However, the past cannot be forgotten. Otherwise, the situation will be the same as the past,” he said.
 
Dr Zahid said that on November 7, 1975, soldiers and people brought Shaheed Zia to power to guide a directionless nation. He did not come to power himself, Dr Zahid added.   
 
“BNP means the people. Shaheed Zia's statement was that the people are the source of all power.

The party is bigger than the individual and the country is bigger than the party. That is why BNP believes in empowering the people,” he said.
 
Dr Zahid said, just three days before August 5, a leader said that the daughter of so-and-so never runs away. Yet three days later, the opposite happened.

“So it must be said, we are not infinite, Allah is infinite. We are not powerful, the people are powerful,” he said.  
 
“Therefore, the nation can move forward unitedly by keeping the people in front,” he said.
 
Dr Zahid said, “We are not the majority, nor are we a minority. We are Bangladeshis.

Therefore, if we want to move this Bangladesh forward, there is no alternative to unity. It is not possible to move forward if there is division among the nation.”
 
He said reforms are always an ongoing process.

From one generation to the next, all generations have different needs.

So, the needs of the people are the condition for reforms.
 
“That’s why Dr Kamal Hossain said the constitution cannot be reformed with the stroke of a pen. Reforms have to be done with the people. That is why our national leader Tarique Rahman gave 31 points,” he said.
 
He said, “We are going to the people with those 31 points. It is making the people understand what kind of Bangladesh the people want in the future. BNP's aim is to establish democracy, human rights, freedom of expression and justice.”
 
The programme was moderated by district BNP member-secretary Md Anisur Rahman Laku and Metropolitan BNP member-secretary, Advocate Mahfuz Un Nabi Don.