Moyeen Khan: Where is democracy?

BNP’s Standing Committee Member Abdul Moyeen Khan has said that after 53 years of independence, the pressing question of Bangladesh's 180 million people is, where is democracy?

He said this after paying tribute to the Liberation War martyrs at the Savar National Martyrs' Memorial in Dhaka on Tuesday.

He said: “The ideology of millions of people who fought the liberation war was for democracy. The goal was to ensure economic freedom for the poor. After 53 years, the one question of Bangladesh's 180 million people is, where did democracy go?

“A government has come to power which does not believe in democracy. They say they believe in democracy, but in reality, they have a one-party rule. Awami League has effectively established a one-party rule. It is not my opinion, people worldwide say this.”

This leader of BNP also claimed that five million leaders and activists of the opposition party have been imprisoned. They have been accused of false charges. 

He further said: “If people do not have the freedom to express themselves, if people do not have the opportunity to practice democracy, then the question of the freedom fighters who are lying in the grave is, why did they make this country independent? The Awami League government has to answer this question.”

In response to a question of whether there is any scope for debate on who is the announcer of independence, this senior leader of BNP said: “History will tell everything. Today, no one needs to be told who brought independence to Bangladesh by fighting on the front.”

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi and others were present.

Moyeen Khan also levied serious allegations against the current administration, claiming that extensive development projects have been marred by rampant corruption and large-scale money laundering activities, reports UNB.

According to Dr Moyeen, hundreds of thousands of crore taka have been illicitly transferred abroad, casting a shadow over the country's developmental achievements.