Movement will continue in parliament, in the streets, says Jamaat chief Shafiqur

Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Shafiqur Rahman on Friday said the opposition will continue its movement in parliament and in the

streets to implement the verdict delivered in the July National Charter referendum, reports bdnews24.com.

At a rally organised by Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis at Suhrawardy Udyan in Dhaka, the leader of the opposition said: "If you do not accept this verdict, I say  -- as Almighty Allah is my witness -- that our movement will not rest until this verdict is implemented. The movement will continue in parliament, the movement will continue in the streets."

The event was titled "Mass rally to demand implementation of the referendum verdict".

Shafiqur Rahman said, "Our AB Party chairman said that a war became inevitable because the people's verdict in 1971 was dismissed. The outcome for those who rejected that verdict was not good.

"Now, those who are rejecting the verdict consider themselves an indisputable part of the Liberation War. We say that, out of respect for that Liberation War, you should accept the verdict. If you accept this verdict, we will not speak on this stage again to push for this demand."

Citing NCP Convener Nahid Islam, the Jamaat Ameer said: "He said that, if necessary, the parliament and the streets will become one. On the day when parliament and the streets become one, you will not be able to fend off the sea tide with sandbags."

Shafiqur slated the BNP government, stating: "The fascists used different narratives to divide the nation. You said before the election that if you win, you will run the country alongside everyone. But what are you doing now?

"You are sending one party to Pakistan, another group to Peshawar, another group to another country. And you want to take over the control of this country's land," he added.

Recalling two slogans from the July Uprising, Shafiqur said: "Remember two slogans of July that were strong and powerful. One was 'We Want Justice'; the other was 'The Country Doesn't Belong to Anyone's Father'. Hundreds of Ulama [Islamic scholars, often graduates from madrasas] took bullets to the chest to drive away the accomplices of autocracy and bring the country and its people back to life. We will not betray them."

Nahid Islam, chief whip of the opposition and convenor of the National Citizens Party (NCP), Oli Ahmed, chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), and Mujibur Rahman Manju, chairman of the Amar Bangladesh Party (AB Party), also spoke at the rally chaired by Bangladesh Khelafat Majlis Ameer Mamunul Haque.

In his speech, Mamunul announced a three-month-long protest programme, including a mass procession in Dhaka, demanding the implementation of the referendum results and resolutions of various crises.

The programme includes citizen rallies in districts in May, June and July and a mass march in Dhaka on August 5.