National Consensus Commission member Dr Badiul Alam Majumdar on Monday said there is no conflict between reforms and elections as both are closely related to each other, reports BSS.
“Currently, propaganda is being spread in various ways against our country . . . But if we are united across caste, religion and color, then we will be strong, no propaganda will be able to hold us back,” he said.
Economist Dr Majumdar, also the founder-secretary of civil society organization Bangladesh-Citizens for Good Governance (SHUJAN), was speaking at the ‘Harmony Dialogue’, organized by ‘The Hunger Project’ at the CIRDAP Auditorium at Topkhana Road.
He added: “We are all citizens of Bangladesh. We all love the country and we all together want to take the country forward as we are currently trying to reform the state.”
Referring to the supreme sacrifices of the July-August martyrs, Badiul Alam said, “Our students and people sacrificed their lives in the mass-uprising with the dream of building a new state. We have now entered the second phase of the new Bangladesh.”
In this phase, he said, “We need to clean up our political and electoral system by making necessary reforms and bring about a democratic transition in Bangladesh by holding free, fair and credible elections”.
Interim Country Director of ‘The Hunger Project’ Prashanta Tripura, Director of the Islamic Foundation Muhammad Rafiq-ul Islam, Dr. Charles Reid (Director, Operations, Agents of Change Project and Policy Advisor, Church of England), Tahera Jabin (Social Development Adviser, Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office-FCDO, British High Commission, Dhaka), Dr Shahnaz Karim (Adviser, Agents of Change: A Bangladesh Freedom of Religion or Belief Leadership Initiative Programme), among others, spoke there.
Apart from this, various religious leaders, civil society representatives and youth representatives from eight districts took part in the discussion.
Speaking on the occasion, the speakers expressed the hope that through the implementation of the necessary reform programmes, Bangladesh will develop into a democratic and prosperous country in the days to come, with the bond of harmony amongst all.
Bd-pratidin English/Tanvir Raihan
