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BNP Standing Committee Member Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury today (Sunday) said democracy cannot be established if elections are obstructed.
“The election is a correction process and filtration process. We must not obstruct the flow of this election. If we obstruct it, there will be no scope to establish democracy,” he said.
Khosru made the remarks while addressing a discussion marking the fourth founding anniversary of the Gano Odhikar Parishad held at the Institution of Diploma Engineers in the city’s Kakrail area, BSS reports.
Referring to the need for restoring democratic order in the country through united participation in the election, Khasru said, “We have been victorious in our 15–16 years of struggle, but democratic order has not yet returned to the country. Just as we all unitedly signed the July National Charter, now our remaining task is to bring back democratic order to Bangladesh through the unified participation of all in the upcoming election.”
“The issues where we have disagreements, we will take those to the people. We will seek the people’s mandate and resolve them with that mandate,” said the BNP leader.
Stating that change does not happen overnight, Khosru said, “Many changes will not come overnight. These must be kept in public discourse through time and discussion. The issues that remain unresolved should be placed before the people and kept on the discussion table. Discussions must continue. What has not happened today may happen six months later. If it does not happen after six months, it may happen after a year. This is how democracy has been established in Western countries.”
Calling for tolerance towards one another, the veteran BNP leader added, “To build the Bangladesh of tomorrow, we must be tolerant. We must respect each other. Even if we dissent, we must respect others’ opinions. We must revive this culture. Otherwise, even with a hundred reforms, democracy cannot be truly institutionalized in Bangladesh.”
Gono Odhikar Parishad President Nurul Haque Nur presided over the discussion while General Secretary Md Rashed Khan, and leaders and activists of the party from various units participated in the occasion.
Vice-President of the Gono Odhikar Parishad Faruk Hasan moderated the event.
Various leaders from the different political parties spoke in the discussion.