Speaking as the chief guest at the event, BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman called on the anti-fascist movement's supporters on the streets not to unnecessarily complicate the situation.

BNP Standing Committee members Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Abdul Moin Khan, Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Salahuddin Ahmed, Selima Rahman, Hafizuddin Ahmed, and AZM Zahid Hossain spoke at the event, which was chaired by BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and supervised by Central Publicity Secretary Sultan Salahuddin Tuku.

In addition, former Dhaka University professor and economist Mahbub Ullah, Jatiya Party (Kazi Zafar) Chairman Mustafa Jamal Haider, Liberal Democratic Party President Colonel (Retd) Oli Ahmed and many others spoke at the event.

A documentary was screened at the meeting to mark the National Revolution and Solidarity Day on November 7. Later, a song was performed.

Tarique Rahman drew the attention of all the associates participating with BNP in the anti-fascist movement and said, "Do not threaten the current weak interim government and face the people next February."

Every political party needs to remember that there is a large number of non-political or non-partisan people outside their own party supporters. I believe that it is the moral and important responsibility of all of us, as representatives of political parties, to focus on implementing the expectations of these millions of non-political or non-partisan people, he added.

He said, "If we want qualitative reforms in conventional politics, issues of public safety and issues close to the lives of the people need to be given more importance in the politicians' action plans than textbook reforms. We need to be more focused on maintaining law and order."

He further said that for months, the people of the country had been watching as invited representatives of many political parties discussed various issues and spent a significant amount of time during the term of the interim government.

Regarding the series of discussions and dialogues between various political parties and the Chief Advisor, BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman said, "Were the issues of daily interest of the large number of non-political or non-partisan population discussed in these discussions? Did the members of the invited political delegation discuss agriculture-education-health-employment with the interim government? Did employment, women's safety and issues of interest of the young population gain importance in the discussions? Did the daily life struggle of the country's farmers, laborers, daily wage earners, low-income people or lower middle-class people find a place in the politicians' discussion list?"

Calling on the democracy-loving people of the country, Tarique Rahman said, "I also call on the democracy-loving people of the country to keep a vigilant eye on whether the state is giving the opportunity to rehabilitate the fallen, defeated and fugitive evil forces in politics under the guise of the referendum."

He further said, "People do not expect overall success in all areas from this short-term interim government. This is not the main responsibility of the interim government either. The interim government has set a date for holding national elections in the country next February. Now the government itself will have to decide whether they will implement the aspirations of a political party or prioritize the February national elections to establish a government accountable to the democracy-loving people of the country."

Drawing the attention of all the comrades who were by BNP's side in the street movement, the acting chairman of BNP said, "I have said this many times before that the constitution of North Korea states 'Democratic People's Republic of Korea'. Just because it is written in the constitution does not make everything certain. In fact, first of all, the hypocritical view of the state and politics needs to change. A change in mentality is needed. Political compromise is needed. A democratic mentality is needed. Above all, patriotism and national unity are needed."

He said, "Despite being the most popular and popularly supported party in the country, BNP has made maximum concessions in maintaining anti-fascist national unity in the larger interest of the country and the people. This is not just talk, it is a proven fact. If we review each point of the Political Consensus Commission, it will be seen that BNP has shown a positive view on most of the points."

Tarique Rahman said, "We can see that some political parties are trying to create obstacles in the national election process by giving various conditions. Creating complications with the national election means, on the one hand, taking advantage of the state machinery without holding the election, and on the other hand, paving the way for the rehabilitation of the defeated and fugitive dictatorship."

In this regard, he said, the way the accomplices of the fugitive dictatorial government have carried out arson terror in the capital itself in the last few days is a warning to the anti-fascist forces about what to do. It is now clear to everyone that a group that participated in the anti-fascist movement had adopted the strategy of taking refuge under the umbrella of the fascists to save themselves from the cruelty of fascism. In the current changed situation, there is ample room to think about whether the defeated and fugitive dictatorship has similarly taken refuge under the umbrella of a group that is in the anti-fascist movement.

Getting a fair price for potatoes is more important than a 'referendum'

Tarique Rahman said, as far as I know, 1.15 crore tons of potatoes have been produced in the country this year. It seems that farmers are in trouble by producing potatoes. Because the cost of producing potatoes and keeping the produced potatoes in cold storage costs about 25 to 27 taka per kilogram of potatoes. However, potato farmers are now unable to sell the potatoes they produce in the market even at half the price. Potato farmers are afraid of losing about 3 thousand crore taka this year by cultivating potatoes.

On the other hand, if we see that even if a so-called referendum is held to satisfy the demands of a couple of political parties, the state will have to shell out almost the same amount of money. In such a situation, for these potato farmers who are facing losses, I think getting a fair price for potatoes is more important at this time than a 'referendum'. I raised the issue for the countrymen's thinking.

Setting up onion storage is more acceptable than 'referendum production'

The BNP acting chairman said, "I see that farmers in the country have the capacity to produce more onions than the demand. They are also producing a sufficient amount of onions. However, due to the lack of a proper onion storage system in the country, on the one hand, a lot of onions are being wasted, and on the other hand, we have to rely on onion imports every year to meet the demand."

He said, "It seems to me that setting up onion storage facilities with the money of the people is more acceptable to the farmers than spending thousands of crores of taka on the so-called 'referendum production'. However, the question is, where is the place to talk about the suffering farmers?

'Jobs are more important to unemployed people than a referendum on billions of taka'

Referring to a recent statement by Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Dr. Shafiqur Rahman, Tarique Rahman said, "Women will work for 5 hours but will only be paid for 8 hours. So who will pay this extra money for the extra hours?"

He said, "A religiously-based political party, while verbally preaching various religious principles to the female population, is imposing an unnecessary burden on the owners to win the votes of those women to come to power. As a result, another disaster will befall the country's overall economy. This is nothing but a fraud on the people."

Tarique Rahman said, "Currently, the number of working women in the country, starting from the garment industry and other sectors, is more than 20 million. If so many women are forced to work for 5 hours instead of 8 hours, then who will pay them for the remaining working hours?"

He said, "Are employers being encouraged to not hire women by talking about reducing women's working hours?" This immature and unwanted statement by the Jamaat leader has spread panic among the country's women's community. People are already becoming unemployed due to various reasons. In such a situation, I think it is more necessary to dispel the fear of job cuts that has spread among working women than the so-called 'mass vote' at this moment."

Failed to eliminate unemployment

Tarique Rahman said, the unemployment rate in the country is increasing. A recent report by a private research institute has said that the poverty rate in the country is currently 28 percent. Another 18 percent of people are at risk of becoming poor at any time. The unemployment rate among the educated in the country is increasing. 1 out of every 5 people with higher secondary and graduate degrees in the country is unemployed.

Recently, the BGME reported that at least 353 garment factories have closed in Savar, Gazipur, Chittagong, Narayanganj and Narsingdi in the last 14 months. As a result, about 120,000 workers have become unemployed.

Isn't a job more important for these unemployed people than the so-called 'referendum' at the cost of thousands of crores of taka by the state? What do you say? Unfortunately, although we have been discussing various elements of state repair for months, we have not raised a single point to discuss employment for the millions of unemployed people in this state, Tarique said.

Disaster in the education sector

During the long decade and a half of fascist rule, the country's education system has been systematically destroyed. There have been so many reform committees, but not a single education reform committee has been formed. I would like to draw your attention to one aspect of the disaster in the education system. The results of the Higher Secondary Examination published last October show that the pass rate in the Higher Secondary Examination held in 2025 was the lowest. On the other hand, not a single student from 202 educational institutions in the country could pass the examination. The worrying thing is that the highest number of students failed in English. More than one-third of the students under the 9 General Education Boards could not pass in English. After English, the highest number of students failed in Information Technology, i.e. ICT.

In this context, Tarique Rahman said, "I also raised the question of whether it is possible to survive with respect and dignity in this competitive world of the 'AI' era if we continue to fail in two important subjects like English and ICT."

He further said, "I think that if we want to survive in education in the current global village, we need to do research on education reform rather than research on the 'so-called referendum'."

Financial and banking sectors Collapsed

The country's economic situation is gradually becoming fragile. GDP growth is also not as expected. At this moment, Tarique Rahman said, mentioning that export earnings and remittances are the main support of the country's economy, 'A negative situation has arisen in the export sector in the last few months. The business community of Bangladesh and foreign development partners are also now saying that in order to revive the overall economy of the country, which has been reeling under various crises, the current interim government should hand over power to a stable government elected by the people as soon as possible. Otherwise, many more disasters will befall Bangladesh.

He said, "The country's banking sector has not yet recovered from the reckless looting by the fugitive looters. At least 24 banks in the country are undercapitalized, which is not desirable in any way. I don't want to scare the people, but we need to be vigilant."

Safe roads are still elusive

Tarique Rahman said, there was a huge movement in the country not only for quota reform but also for safe roads. In the last one year from September 2024 to September 2025, at least seven thousand people have been killed on the roads in the country. Of these, 48 percent are women, children and pedestrians. 13 thousand people have been injured. Bangladesh has ranked among the world's highest casualties in road accidents. But despite the dialogue with the interim government on hundreds of issues, has the issue of road safety been able to find a place in the discussion?

Finally, he said, these questions are not to blame anyone. Rather, as a political activist, where do we stand or my question to myself is, who is our politics for? Today, I have shared with you some of my questions and perceptions as a political activist in the current situation of the country. That is why I have asked for a little extra time from you today. I hope you will not be offended. Finally, I request you to forgive me if there are any mistakes in what I have said.