Dhaka correspondent, Mahbub Hasan Tutul:
Mr. Nahid Islam, convener of the new political party ‘Jatiya Nagorik Party’, has commented that there will be no place for any pro-India or pro-Pakistan political party in Bangladesh. He said, we will build politics and the state by keeping Bangladesh in the forefront.
He made these comments at the debut ceremony of the ‘Jatiya Nagorik Party’ on Manik Mia Avenue in the capital on Friday evening.
Mr. Nahid Islam said, today we are at a historic moment. Here we have announced the committee of the new political party Jatiya Nagorik Party. Standing on this stage, we only want to talk about the future. We want to go beyond the past history and talk about the dream of Bangladesh. The slogan of the July coup, ‘You are who I am, the alternative is the alternative,’ has given us the opportunity to create an alternative today.
He said, we believe that the politics of division, which weakened the people and the state, was broken in the July coup. We are saying today that Bangladesh can never be divided again.
He also said that there will be no place for any pro-India or pro-Pakistan political party in Bangladesh. We will build politics and the state by keeping Bangladesh in mind.
Then Mr. Nahid Islam read out the manifesto of the Jatiya Nagorik Party.
Nahid Islam said, in the context of the July 2024 student uprising, under the leadership of the anti-discrimination student movement and at the initiative of the National Citizens Committee, we are declaring ourselves the students of Bangladesh.
He said, we have stood as a people of the Bengal Delta with a rich and unique culture in a thousand-year historical cycle. After a long struggle against British colonial rule of almost 200 years, the state of Pakistan was established in 1947. However, the people of this country have not been liberated from exploitation and discrimination. As a result, in the continuation of a long 23-year struggle, the independent state of Bangladesh was born in 1971 through the great liberation war in exchange for the blood of millions of martyrs. But for a long time after independence, the people of Bangladesh have had to fight for democracy repeatedly. (In 1990, the students and the masses overthrew the military dictatorship with fresh blood from their chests). However, even after five decades of independence, we have not been able to create a political settlement that ensures democracy, equality, human dignity and social justice. Rather, in the past 15 years, a cruel fascist regime has been established in the country, where democracy has been destroyed by recklessly using state institutions for the interests of the ruling party. Suppression of opposition voices, disappearances, extrajudicial killings, all-out corruption and money laundering have been turned into a state culture.
Mr. Nahid Islam further said that in July 2024, the student masses, through immense sacrifice, overthrew the fascist government that had been in power for a long decade and a half through an unprecedented uprising. But we must remember that this new freedom, achieved at the cost of the sacrifices of thousands of martyrs, did not happen just to overthrow one government and install another.
He said that the people responded to this uprising out of their desire for a new political settlement by abolishing the fascist system that had been in power at the core of the state, so that a state based on the rights of the people could be reorganized. With that aim in mind, we are announcing the establishment of the National Citizens Party (NCP). It will be a democratic, just (equality-based) and representative political party of the people.
The declaration states that we believe that the July 2024 mass uprising has begun the struggle to establish our Second Republic. By formulating a democratic new constitution, we must end all possibilities of re-establishing constitutional dictatorship. One of our primary goals is to formulate a new constitution through the election of the Constituent Assembly to establish our Second Republic. In our Second Republic, a strong defense system will be built to protect national interests.
Rebuilding the collapsed political, social, economic and cultural institutions and preserving their democratic character will be the priority of our politics. Only through this will we be able to emerge as a fully democratic state.
Nahid said, ‘We want the development of a political culture where unity instead of division, justice instead of revenge, and the criteria of merit and competence instead of family rule will be established in society and at all levels of the state. There will be no place for corruption and nepotism in our politics.
He said, in our Second Republic, the voices of the backward sections of society will be brought to the mainstream. In our Republic, the common people, and only the common people, will be the sole source of power. Strong protection of all their democratic and fundamental rights will be the motto of our politics.
(We want to build a pluralistic and prosperous society by protecting the ethnic, social, gender, religious and cultural values and diversity existing in the state). Our Republic will provide strong protection to all citizens from poverty, discrimination and abuse of power. No section of the population of Bangladesh will be marginalized in our Second Republic. Rather, equal importance will be given to every citizen of the state and security will be ensured for all.
Nahid said, “In the economy, we want to build a national economy that is self-reliant, income-inequitable and (sensitive to life-nature-environment) through proper coordination of the agriculture-services-manufacturing sectors. In our economy, wealth will not be concentrated in the hands of a specific group, but rather, balanced redistribution of wealth will be the motto of our economy. We will protect consumers and public interests by taking firm steps to control syndicates and group interests in the private sector. We will ensure regional cooperation and international partnerships to stand tall as a strong state in the region through economic progress, and a sustainable, modern economy will be built by developing an innovative culture with emphasis on the science and technology sector.”
Finally, we want to reiterate our determination to establish a society based on justice and equality. We firmly believe that the July 2024 mass uprising is not only a victory against a fascist regime, it is also a pledge to build our future. Let us together, hand in hand, build a Bangladesh where the voice of every citizen will be heard, where the establishment of justice, the struggle for human rights will be one of the goals of politics. Where equality and human dignity will be the foundation of the state. Now is the time to dream new dreams, walk a new path and build a new Bangladesh. So, let us all take an oath from our respective positions. Let us unite. And let us move forward with determination in the fight to establish our desired Second Republic. Our country, our rights, our future—our Second Republic is not an elusive dream, it is our pledge.
While concluding his speech, Nahid Islam asked whether he was promising everyone to form a Second Republic.
Then the top leaders of the party raised slogans like ‘Inquilab Inquilab, Inquilab Zindabad’, ‘Power not the people, people not the people, people not the government, government not the government’s dalali, government is the government’.
Party supporters from different parts of the country joined the event with processions.
Among the invited guests were BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Advocate Ruhul Kabir Rizvi and Joint Secretary General Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie, Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar, Mass Solidarity Movement Chief Coordinator Jonayed Saki, and LDP faction chairman Shahadat Hossain Selim.