BNP standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed. File Photo

DHAKA, March 1, 2025 (BSS) - BNP standing committee member Salahuddin Ahmed today demanded quick election saying that the interim government should announce the roadmap for the national election by this month.

 "Those who are talking about local elections before the national elections have different objectives. Because, they are afraid of their position in the national elections," he told a discussion of Nationalist Research Foundation (NRF) at Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh (IDEB) in the capital's Kakrail.

Dhaka University's former vice-chancellor Prof Dr. Anwarullah Chowdhury presided over the discussion titled 'The Sacrifice and Leadership of Patriotic Leader Begum Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman in the Struggle to Restore Democracy'.

BNP Senior Joint Secretary Advocate Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed, Joint Secretary General Habib Un-Nabi Khan Sohel, Human Rights Affairs Secretary Barrister Nasir Uddin Ahmed Asim, Chairperson's Advisor Professor Dr. Tajmeri S. A. Islam, Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists Secretary General Kader Gani Chowdhury, Jahangirnagar University Environmental Science Department Chairman Dr. Jamal Uddin Rono, Tarique Rahman's Advisory Council member Dr. Mahadi Amin and former Swechchhasebak Dal president Abdul Kader Bhuiyan Jewel also spoke.

Underscoring the need for maintaining unity, Salahuddin Ahmed said if the unity that has grown on the streets is destroyed, the fallen dictatorship will benefit.

Noting role of BNP in strengthening democracy, he said BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia established parliamentary democracy in the country while it was her political foresight to introduce the caretaker government.
 
If that had been implemented, the country would not have to witness the killings of so many students and people in the July uprising, said the BNP leader.

"The grave of Awami League politics was created on August 5. If Awami League can resume political activities, it will be a failure of our political strategy. Therefore, Awami League must be confronted through positive activities," he said.

Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed said Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman gave a kind of new philosophy in politics as he stopped the single-party regime bringing multi-party democracy in the country.

"Ziaur Rahman did not come to power by overthrowing any democratic ruler. Sheikh Mujib killed democracy by forming BaKSAL. Ziaur Rahman gave birth to multi-party democracy there," he said.

"He created such an environment of tolerance so that there are so many televisions in the country, we read various newspapers and there is a place for pluralism in democracy. He lit the torch of democracy from the dark cave of BaKSAL," he said.

Dubbing BNP chief Begum Khaleda Zia as 'mother of democracy', Rizvi said whenever democracy faced a crisis, Khaleda Zia lit the torch of democracy and brought back multi-party democracy in the country.