Awami League accepted India's slavery to 'secure' power: Sarjis Alam- news focus bd

 ‘In the past 16 years, the Awami League has taken India to the ranks of Bangladesh’s masters. They themselves voluntarily accepted slavery. Just to secure their power. For them, the value of power was more than the country, the people of the country, and the sovereignty of the country. They wanted to stay in power at any cost.’ Sarjis Alam, the chief organizer of the National Citizens’ Committee, said this at a roundtable discussion in Chittagong on Saturday afternoon.

The roundtable discussion was organized by the Islami Andolan Bangladesh Chittagong Nagar at the city’s polo ground. Representatives of various political parties, university teachers, journalists and people from various classes and professions participated in the discussion titled ‘Resisting India’s political and cultural dominance, solving Chittagong’s regional problems and the need for national unity to establish a non-discriminatory welfare state’.

Regarding the Seven Sisters of India, Sarjis Alam said, ‘The young generation needs to be made aware of how India participated in this liberation war not only for the people of Bangladesh, but also to save its Seven Sisters. The Seven Sisters, which were almost in rebellion before 71 due to various circumstances, when a large part of Pakistan was adjacent to the Seven Sisters, India was afraid of being divided.…’

Mentioning the need to discuss India’s cultural aggression and dominance, Sarjis said, ‘Among the aggressions that India has carried out in Bangladesh in the past years, one of the most violent and important is our culture. Because, what we are, this is our culture. What we eat, wear, and say are included in our culture. Our mothers and sisters sit at home and watch TV serials. Ninety percent of the foreign channels in Bangladesh are Indian. On the contrary, in India they do not allow even a single Bangladeshi channel to be broadcast.’

‘Elections will be given, they must be given’

The chief guest of the roundtable discussion, Ameer of the Islamic Movement of Bangladesh, Mufti Syed Muhammad Rezaul Karim, said, ‘Many are highlighting the elections again and again. There is no need to be so restless. Elections will be held. They will have to be held. But now the country is at a certain stage. The country is unstable in all areas. As a result, we all come together. We protest against various conspiracies, including those in India, and the competition to destabilize the country through national unity.’

Mufti Syed Muhammad Rezaul Karim said, ‘Politics is basically for the welfare of Islam, the country and humanity. We have seen in 53 years that many have prioritized their own interests through politics and power. This needs to change. The Islamic Movement Bangladesh was established in 1987. So far, not a single person has gone to parliament under this banner. We had the opportunity to go. The reason for not going is that we do politics for the welfare of Islam, the country and humanity.’

The Naib-e-Amir of the Islamic Movement Bangladesh, Mufti Syed Muhammad Faizul Karim said, ‘There is no place in education that has not been destroyed. Now if you say that you will teach Islamic education, then I will say that even if you mix poison in honey, it will not work. Every book of the curriculum that has been arranged in the past must be discarded. Books must be arranged anew. Otherwise, this movement will fail.’

Taking up the topic of discrimination, Syed Muhammad Faizul Karim said, ‘The Islamic Movement Bangladesh has started an anti-discrimination movement from July 5. I said in the afternoon of August 4 at Shahbagh that the people will occupy Ganabhaban on the 5th. By the grace of God, Ganabhaban was occupied on the 5th by coincidence. But the anti-discrimination student movement does not even take notice of the Islamic Movement. So much has changed in Bangladesh today. I ask, was the Islamic Movement consulted? Yet the general secretaries of all the parties who had announced that they were not related to this movement are following their orders. And we risked our lives and jumped into the field in front of the bullets. We do not even know. Discrimination has started here.’

Shahjahan Chowdhury, Amir of Jamaat-e-Islami Chittagong City, said, ‘There are 180 million people with the anti-discrimination student movement. All the Islamic parties agree with them in the coming days, whatever programs and plans they have. We are with them.’

Presided over by Muhammad Jannatul Islam, President of the Islamic Movement Bangladesh Chittagong City and moderated by the party’s Senior Joint Secretary General Gazi Ataur Rahman, the roundtable meeting was also addressed by Professor Ashraf Ali, Presidium Member of the Islamic Movement, Tajul Islam, President of Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh Chittagong City, Ashraf Uddin, Central Leader of the Citizens’ Committee, SM Sarwar Alam, Health and Family Welfare Secretary of BNP Chittagong City, Md. Nazimuddin Chowdhury, President of the Chittagong District Bar Association, Russell Ahmed, Member of the Central Executive Committee of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, Co-Coordinator Khan Talat Mahmud, Khelafat Majlis Chittagong City President Professor Khurshid Alam, President of Jamiat-e-Ulama-e-Islam Chittagong City, Maulana Zakaria, among others.