Prime Minister and BNP Chairman Tarique Rahman on Saturday accused some political parties and individuals of trying to create anarchy by exploiting the country’s ongoing power and gas crises inherited by his administration, saying everyone should act within their limits.

“We are trying to resolve all the problems we have inherited, whether from the authoritarian regime or the interim government,” he said while speaking at a discussion meeting marking the BNP’s 48th founding anniversary.

Tarique Rahman acknowledged that there are problems in various sectors that are causing suffering to the people.

“But we are noticing that some political parties and individuals are trying in different ways to create confusion by exploiting these problems, and through this confusion they are trying to create anarchy in the country,” he said.

The Prime Minister said the government will uphold the democratic process and make its utmost effort to maintain democratic principles and ethics.

“But if anyone wants to create anarchy, the law of the country clearly sets out how to control such anarchy. Therefore, as a government—and not just as a government, but as a government elected by the people—I want to make it clear that everyone needs to remain within their respective limits,” he said.

The discussion was held at the auditorium of the Krishibid Institution Bangladesh (KIB) in Farmgate.

At the beginning of the programme, participants observed a one-minute silence in memory of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman, former BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and all those who sacrificed their lives for the country and the party.

The event began with the national anthem, followed by the party anthem and a documentary on the BNP.

President Ziaur Rahman founded the BNP on September 1, 1978. The five-day central programme marking the party’s 48th founding anniversary, which began on Tuesday, concluded with Saturday’s discussion.

Tarique Rahman said the BNP inherited a fragile economy, as well as weak health, education and communication systems, after forming the government.

He identified the energy crisis as the country’s biggest immediate problem, acknowledging that many people and industries are suffering from shortages of electricity and fuel.

“I apologise on behalf of the party to all those who are suffering from the shortage of electricity and fuel,” the BNP chief said.

He, however, said the government did not want to use the problems left behind by the previous regime or the interim government merely as excuses.

“We do not want to simply cite these problems as excuses. Rather, we want to present the reality to the people and at the same time take measures so that people do not have to face such problems in the future,” the Prime Minister said.

He said the BNP has already adopted an action plan to address the energy crisis and prepare the country to withstand possible future global disruptions.

“An action plan requires time to formulate, and implementing it also requires some time,” Tarique Rahman said, adding that the government is taking its measures keeping possible future global crises in mind.

He alleged that a political group operated in disguise during the previous authoritarian regime and that some of its members subsequently admitted their involvement.

The Prime Minister also accused some political parties of attempting to spread confusion and said such activities could create an opportunity for forces associated with the ousted authoritarian regime to return to the political scene.

“Could it be that those who remained hidden under the authoritarian regime are now, from within that hidden network, trying to incite this anarchy?” he asked.

“If that is the case, then those who are hiding are actually working to bring that authoritarian regime back to the forefront,” Tarique Rahman said.

Calling on all nationalist forces and BNP leaders and activists, he said: “Let us make the people more aware. Let us expose to the people who is taking responsibility for whom and who is trying to protect whom.”

The Prime Minister alleged that certain political forces had protected or sheltered one another at different points in Bangladesh’s history.

“This politics must be exposed before the people. We have to make it clear to the people..Because we have seen these forces, operating covertly, shielding and sheltering one another at different times over the years and decades—whether in 1971, 1986, 1996, over the past one and a half decades, or even today," he said.

“So today, we have to expose their politics before the people. We have to make it clear to the people," Tarique Rahman said.

He said the BNP had consistently sought to establish a democratic system and uphold the democratic rights of the people since the party’s inception.

“We still firmly believe in this,” the Prime Minister said, adding that hundreds of thousands of BNP leaders and activists had sacrificed their lives for democracy.

At the same time, he said, the BNP wants to build a humane state and a democracy where no one would face obstacles in exercising their rights.

PM’s four directives to BNP leaders and activists

Tarique Rahman urged party leaders and activists to help implement the government’s development programmes, including tree plantation, canal excavation and cleanliness drives.

He also called upon BNP leaders and activists to play an active role in nation-building by undertaking four key tasks at the grassroots level.

First, the Prime Minister asked party workers to participate in the government’s campaign to plant 25 crore trees over the next five years, describing it as a continuation of the tree-planting initiatives of Ziaur Rahman and Khaleda Zia.

Second, he urged them to actively participate in the government’s plan to excavate 20,000 kilometres of canals across the country, particularly when such work is undertaken in their respective areas.

Third, the Prime Minister asked BNP’s main and affiliated organisations to work with local communities to remove garbage and keep villages, towns and cities clean, using the party’s extensive grassroots network.

Fourth, Tarique Rahman urged every BNP leader and activist to remain vigilant against misuse of the party’s name, calling on them to ensure that no one carries out activities in the name of BNP that embarrass the party or cause suffering to ordinary people.

The Prime Minister said the BNP’s role in Bangladesh’s independence and democratic politics could not be erased.

“However hard anyone may try, even through the law and the courts, it cannot be erased,” he said.

Tarique Rahman said Ziaur Rahman had declared Bangladesh’s independence and later restored multiparty democracy after the country gained independence.

He also highlighted Ziaur Rahman’s initiatives on multiparty democracy, a free-market economy and creating overseas employment opportunities, as well as former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia’s contributions to parliamentary democracy, sustainable democratic practices, women’s education, economic development and the system of transferring power through elections under a neutral, non-party government.

“In every crisis—whether it concerns the country’s independence, democracy or economic emancipation—Ziaur Rahman, Khaleda Zia and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party have taken the country forward and brought it out of crisis,” the Prime Minister said.

Tarique Rahman said the BNP had remained on the streets during the movement against the previous authoritarian regime despite facing widespread repression.

“For the past 17 years, the BNP was on the streets. The BNP did not take any other role; it did not do anything secretly or underground. Whatever it did for people’s rights, it did openly on the streets, standing firm and fighting for people’s demands,” he said.

The Prime Minister said the people were the “masterminds” behind the success of the 2024 mass movement.

“We have always said that the mastermind behind the success of the 2024 movement was the people of this country. The BNP, together with the people, made that movement successful,” he said.

Tarique Rahman said the people had subsequently seen that the BNP was the political party that protected their interests and democratic rights.

He acknowledged that the BNP government had limitations and could not fulfil all its aspirations for various reasons.

“Despite that, after assessing everything, the people of Bangladesh have seen that if there is a political party that protects the interests of the people, that party is the BNP,” he said.

Tarique said the BNP had received public support and formed governments in elections that were considered credible both by the people of Bangladesh and internationally.

The discussion was chaired by BNP Acting Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi and moderated by the party’s Publicity Secretary Sultan Salahuddin Tuku.

Economist Mahbub Ullah, BNP Standing Committee members Mirza Abbas, Amanullah Aman, Farhad Halim and Ismail Zabiullah, Jubo Dal General Secretary M Moinam Munna, Krishak Dal General Secretary Shahidul Islam Babul, Swechchhasebak Dal General Secretary Rajib Ahsan, Dhaka South BNP Member Secretary Tanvir Ahmed Robin, Dhaka North BNP Member Secretary Mostafa Zaman and Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal President Rakibul Islam Rakib also spoke at the programme.

BNP Standing Committee members Goyeshwar Chandra Roy, Abdul Moyeen Khan, Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, Salahuddin Ahmed, Selima Rahman and AZM Zahid Hossain, among other senior leaders, were present.

The discussion was organised as part of a five-day programme marking the BNP’s 48th founding anniversary. The party was founded by President Ziaur Rahman on September 1, 1978.