Desk Report,
Creating divisions between those for and those against independence after 54 years is not desirable: Salahuddin Ahmed
Stating that the spirit of the Liberation War has been sold to create division among the people of the country, BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed said, “We cannot wish to divide the united nation by making statements in favor of or against the independence of Bangladesh. None of us can wish for this after 54 years of independence.”
Creating divisions between those for and those against independence after 54 years is not desirable: Salahuddin Ahmed
Salahuddin Ahmed said this while speaking as the chief guest at a roundtable meeting at the CIRDAP auditorium in the capital on Saturday afternoon.
The meeting titled ‘Adivasis, Minority Ethnic Groups and National Security Concepts in the Context of Bangladesh’ was organized by the Chittagong Hill Tracts Research Foundation.
At the meeting, Salahuddin Ahmed said, “I have seen a mentality of dividing this nation for various political purposes. Here, divisions have been created among us by saying that we are for or against independence, even after 54 years of independence. We have to get out of the place where the spirit of the Liberation War has been traded, politicized, politically traded, and the division that has been created by selling the spirit.’ In this context, Salahuddin Ahmed further said, ‘All the people of Bangladesh have embraced the Liberation War. Even though not everyone was in the armed struggle during the Liberation War, they were mentally in favor of the Liberation War and all the people of the country were in favor of independence.’
This member of the BNP Standing Committee said, ‘Even among those whom we want to divide because they were against independence, we have not seen any open mentality to deny that independence after the country’s independence. Those who may not have been able to accept the country’s independence may have some different thoughts. But no one in the country has shown such courage to make any divisive statement to deny independence. We have not seen it till date.’
Salahuddin Ahmed, mentioning that an international plan has been in place for a long time regarding the Chittagong Hill Tracts, urged everyone to be vigilant in this regard. Noting that the recent Kuki-China incident has worried the countrymen and the security forces, he said, ‘There is a reason behind the scenes even behind what we see with white eyes.’
Salahuddin Ahmed said, ‘Here, some other global power has a plan for our hilly region and a region of India, a region of Myanmar. To implement that plan, they may want to arrange this territory in a different way. I do not want to say more than that today. For that, we have to be vigilant; so that any such national and international plan cannot succeed with our territory.’
Salahuddin Ahmed said, ‘All our small ethnic groups, ethno-ethnic groups, tribes and semi-tribes—all populations, all entities—have to be Bangladeshis to create a unified nation. It is for the sake of building that united nation, society and state that we have shed blood again in the 24th century after 1971.’
Security analyst Major General (Retd) Naeem Ashfaq Chowdhury presented the keynote address at the meeting.
BNP Chairperson’s Defense Advisor Major General (Retd) Fazle Elahi Akbar, Jamaat-e-Islami Nayebe Amir Shahjahan Chowdhury, BNP Media Cell Chairman Alamgir Mohammad Moudud, Labor Party Chairman Mustafizur Rahman and Aam Janata Party Member Secretary Tarique Rahman also spoke at the roundtable meeting chaired by CHT Research Foundation Chairman Mehdi Hasan. AB Party Chairman Mujibur Rahman was present among others.
The meeting was also addressed by Professor Muhammad Asaduzzaman, Director of the International Mother Language Institute, Mohammad Abdur Rab, Vice Chancellor of Manarat International University, Major General (retd) Mohammad Mahfuzur Rahman, Chairman of the Osmani Center for Peace and Security Studies, Professor Sukomal Barua of Dhaka University, Professor Sufi Mustafizur Rahman of Jahangirnagar University, Professor Kazi Mohammad Barkat Ali of Chittagong University, Professor Mohammad Tarek Fazal of Rajshahi University, Defense Analyst Brigadier General (retd) Abdullah Al Yusuf, former Chairman of Khagrachhari District Council Babu Ruithi Karbari, and activist Thoai Ching Mong Shak, among others.
