Dhaka //

Nahid Islam, convener of the new political party ‘Jatiya Nagorik Party’, has commented that there will be no place for any pro-India and pro-Pakistan political party in Bangladesh. He said, we will build politics and the state keeping Bangladesh in the forefront.

He made these comments at the launch ceremony of the ‘Jatiya Nagorik Party’ at Manik Mia Avenue in the capital on Friday evening.

Nahid Islam said, today we are at a historic moment. Here we have announced the committee of the new political party Jatiya Nagorik Party. Standing on this stage, we only want to talk about the future. We want to go beyond the past history and talk about the dream of Bangladesh. The slogan of the July Uprising, ‘You are who I am who, alternative alternative’, is the opportunity to create an alternative today.

Nahid said, we think that the politics that weakened the people and the state through the politics of division, have been broken in the July Uprising. Today we say that Bangladesh can never be divided again.

He also said that there will be no place for any pro-India or pro-Pakistan political party in Bangladesh. We will build politics and the state with Bangladesh in mind.

Then Nahid Islam read out the manifesto of the Jatiya Nagorik Party.

Nahid said that in the context of the July 2024 student uprising, under the leadership of the anti-discrimination student movement and at the initiative of the National Citizens Committee, we are declaring ourselves the students of Bangladesh.

He said that we have stood as a people of the Bengal Delta with a rich and unique culture in the course of a thousand years of history. After a long struggle against British colonial rule for almost 200 years, the state of Pakistan was established in 1947. However, the people of this country were not freed from exploitation and discrimination. As a result, after a long struggle of 23 years, the independent state of Bangladesh was born in 1971 through the great liberation war in exchange for the blood of millions of martyrs.

‘But for a long time after independence, the people of Bangladesh have had to fight for democracy repeatedly. (In 1990, the student masses overthrew the military dictatorship with fresh blood). However, even after five decades of independence, we have not been able to create a political settlement that ensures democracy, equality, human dignity and social justice. Rather, in the past 15 years, a brutal fascist regime has been established in the country, where democracy has been destroyed by recklessly using state institutions for the interests of the ruling party. Suppression of opposition voices, disappearances, extrajudicial killings, all-out corruption and money laundering have been turned into a state culture.’

Nahid further said that in July 2024, the student masses, through immense sacrifice, brought down the fascist government that had been in power for a long decade and a half through an unprecedented uprising. But we must remember that this new freedom, achieved at the cost of the sacrifices of thousands of martyrs, did not happen simply to overthrow one government and install another.

He said, “The people responded to this uprising out of a desire for a new political settlement by abolishing the fascist system that has been entrenched in the state, so that a state based on the rights of the people is reconstructed. With that goal in mind, we are announcing the establishment of the National Citizens Party (NCP). It will be a democratic, just (equality-based) and representative political party of the people.”

The declaration states, “We believe that the July 2024 popular uprising has begun the struggle to establish our Second Republic. By formulating a democratic new constitution, we must end all possibilities of re-establishing constitutional dictatorship. One of our primary goals is to formulate a new constitution through the election of the Constituent Assembly to establish our Second Republic. Our Second Republic will be equipped with a strong defense system to protect national interests. Rebuilding the collapsed political, social, economic and cultural institutions and preserving their democratic character will be the priority of our politics.” Only through this can we emerge as a fully democratic state.

Nahid said, ‘We want the development of a political culture where unity replaces division, justice replaces revenge, and the criteria of merit and competence replaces familyism in society and at all levels of the state. There will be no place for corruption and nepotism in our politics.’

He said, in our Second Republic, the voices of the backward sections of society will be brought to the mainstream. In our Republic, the common people, and only the common people, will be the sole source of power. Strong protection of all their democratic and fundamental rights will be the motto of our politics. (We want to build a pluralistic and prosperous society by protecting the ethnic, social, gender, religious and cultural values ​​and diversity existing in the state). Our Republic will provide strong protection to all citizens from poverty, discrimination and abuse of power. No section of the population of Bangladesh will be marginalized in our Second Republic. Rather, equal importance will be given to every citizen of the state and everyone’s safety will be ensured.’

Nahid said, in the economy, we want to build a national economy that is self-reliant, income-inequal and (sensitive to life-nature-environment) through proper coordination of the agriculture-service-manufacturing sectors. In our economy, wealth will not be concentrated in the hands of a specific group, but rather, balanced redistribution of wealth will be the motto of our economy. We will protect consumers and public interests by taking firm steps to control private sector syndicates and group interests. We will ensure regional cooperation and international partnerships to stand tall as a strong state in the region through economic progress, and a sustainable, modern economy will be built by developing an innovative culture with emphasis on the science and technology sector.’

‘Finally, we want to reiterate our determination to establish a society based on fairness and equality. We firmly believe that the July 2024 mass uprising is not only a victory against a fascist regime, it is also a pledge to build our future. Let us together, hand in hand, build a Bangladesh where the voice of every citizen will be heard, where the establishment of justice, the struggle for human rights will be one of the goals of politics. Where equality and human dignity will be the foundation of the state. Now is the time to dream new dreams, walk a new path, and build a new Bangladesh. So, let us all take an oath from our respective positions. Let us unite. And let us move forward with determination in the fight to establish our desired Second Republic. Our country, our rights, our future—our Second Republic is not an elusive dream, it is our pledge.

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