Govt must take responsibility, as fascism still prevails: Mahmudur Rahman

Mahmudur Rahman, editor of the Amar Desh, has said though the Sheikh Hasina's government toppled through the uprising of the student community, fascism is still active in the country, and the interim government must take responsibility for this, reports UNB.
He made the comments while speaking a discussion titled "From Autocracy to Fascism, From Mujib to Hasina: The Threat of Fascism's Return and What Needs to Be Done to Preserve the Revolution," at the RC Majumdar Arts Auditorium of Dhaka University on Thursday.
He said, "One fascist has fled the country, but the allies of fascism are still active. They are conspiring in various ways to destroy the spirit of the student uprising. The interim government should identify and eradicate the remaining fascist elements."
He further noted that Sheikh Hasina's fascism had its roots in her father, Mujib. "We need to investigate not only the fascist terms used by Hasina but also who or what groups established fascism in the country after independence. If we look at the history between 1971 and 1975, we can see how Mujib and his thugs started extrajudicial killings. The first victim of this was Siraj Sikder. He is the only person in the history of the country who, after killing Siraj Sikder, boasted in parliament."
Describing Mujib as the initiator of state terrorism, Mahmudur Rahman said Hasina inherited her fascist language from her father. "Hasina is not the only one who manipulated elections. Mujib, by establishing Baksal (One-Party Rule), laid the path for mass killings. It was under his rule that state terrorism first rose in Bangladesh. To establish terrorism in the country, he formed the Rakkhi Bahini, and his ally Sheikh Fazlul Haq Moni famously declared, 'We want Mujeeb's rule, not the rule of law.' In this way, Mujib and his followers paved the way for fascism in Bangladesh."
Mahmudur Rahman also stated that Mujib had curtailed freedom of expression and the media. "Mujib's one-party rule was the first in the country. He took control of the media, shutting down all newspapers except for four that only praised Mujib. Hasina's 16 years of fascist rule resembled to Mujib's three and a half years of autocratic rule. After the revolution, our main task must be to discard the icons of fascism. A fascist has fled the country, but fascism has not been eradicated. We must continue to protest against all fascist activities."