Bangladesh Nationalist Party vice-chairman Hafizuddin Ahmed said on Thursday that his party would lead the people’s movement to restore democracy and get back their rights that were snatched by the ruling Awami League.

‘Bengalis are a fighting nation. The country became independent through fighting. The country’s people will regain their basic rights through movement, and the BNP will lead this movement,’ Hafizuddin said at a press conference at the party’s Naya Paltan central office.

The press conference was organised following the first meeting of the party’s Independence Day celebration committee. Hafizuddin is the convener of the committee.

‘Everyone knows who is taking away freedom, who is robbing banks, and who is taking away people’s voting rights,’ he added. He also said that his party would come to power in the state in a very short time.

The BNP is not a depressed party. The BNP is a popular party. Had the last elections been held under a caretaker government, the BNP would have been in power. The amount of oppression that has happened to the BNP has not happened to any other party,’ he said.

‘BNP will come to power in a very short time. The ruling Awami League does the politics of talking. Awami League leaders will not have a place to speak when the people go to the polling station,’ he said.

Hafiz said that the War of Independence was the war of the common people, not of any political party.

Those who have not thought about independence are now the biggest carriers of the liberation war, he said.

Clamming that most people in the country support the BNP, he said that everyone knows what politics is currently going on in Bangladesh.

‘Here we are preparing to celebrate Independence Day. The freedom of the country is about to be lost today. We have become a subjugated nation,’ he added.

He said that much of the history of the War of Independence has already been distorted, as history is being written every day like poetry and prose by mixing the sweetness of the mind.

‘During the 1971 War of Independence, the number of freedom fighters was 80,000; if it was too high, it was 100,000. But today we see two and a half lakh freedom fighters,’ he said.

He also said that a programme will be announced under the leadership of BNP this month to inform the public about the contribution of the Z Force and the common people in the War of Independence.