BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said there is no reason for the people of Bangladesh to place trust in forces that once denied the country’s independence. He remarked that the same groups that opposed Bangladesh’s liberation in 1971 are now trying to present themselves as champions of a “new Bangladesh,” a claim the nation cannot accept.

He made these comments on Sunday while speaking as the chief guest at a discussion organized by the Nationalist Freedom Fighters Party at the Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh, in the capital’s Kakrail area, marking Martyred Intellectuals Day. Freedom fighters and family members of martyrs were present at the event.

Mirza Fakhrul stated that anyone who rejected the country’s independence in the past does not deserve the people’s confidence. He said Bangladesh was achieved through struggle and sacrifice, and that independence made it possible for the nation to survive and move forward. Today, he added, the country faces a critical question—whether it will uphold the spirit of independence or allow those who once sought to destroy it to regain influence.

He warned that anti-liberation forces have once again become active, misleading people by exploiting religion, just as they attempted to do during the Liberation War in 1971. According to him, these groups are deliberately creating confusion and division among the people.

The BNP leader emphasized that the same forces opposed the Pakistan Movement in 1947 and later resisted Bangladesh’s independence in 1971. Now, he said, they have changed their appearance and narrative, pretending they can build a new Bangladesh—something he believes the people of the country will never believe.

Recalling the history of Martyred Intellectuals Day, Mirza Fakhrul said that on December 14, 1971, the Pakistani occupation army, with the help of local collaborators, systematically killed leading intellectuals—teachers, doctors, engineers, writers, and journalists—in an attempt to cripple the nation intellectually. That conspiracy failed, he noted, as the occupation forces were forced to surrender just two days later.

He said lasting success can never come through conspiracy, but only through truth, struggle, and perseverance.

Mirza Fakhrul further said Bangladesh is currently at a crucial crossroads, and the time has come to build a democratic, tolerant, and inclusive nation through unity, without bowing to any plots or conspiracies. He stressed that a new Bangladesh must be built in line with the visions of Ziaur Rahman, Begum Khaleda Zia, and the 31-point agenda announced by Tarique Rahman.

1. Describing the upcoming election, he said it would essentially be a contest between two opposing forces—one that stands for Bangladesh’s independence, sovereignty, and liberal democracy, and another reactionary force that previously opposed independence and is now using religion to mislead the public, repeating tactics from 1971.

Paying tribute to the martyred intellectuals, Mirza Fakhrul said the nation must never forget the brutal killings carried out by the Pakistani army and its collaborators. He asserted that those responsible for murdering the country’s finest minds cannot be forgiven.

He also said that although authoritarianism has recently been pushed back through democratic struggle, this does not mean a new form of fascism should be allowed to emerge. Any force that seeks to drag the country backward must be resisted. Bangladesh, he added, has always been a land of communal harmony where people of different faiths have lived peacefully for generations, and the nation has never accepted imposed ideologies.

Finally, Mirza Fakhrul alleged that defeated forces are attempting to destabilize the country because they cannot accept their loss. Expressing firm confidence, he said the people of Bangladesh have never bowed to injustice, and no conspiracy can defeat national unity.

The discussion was chaired by Nationalist Freedom Fighters Party President Ishtiaq Aziz Ulfat. Other speakers included BNP Chairperson’s adviser Abdus Salam, Moazzem Hossain Alal, and BNP Executive Committee member and freedom-fighter affairs secretary Lt Col (retd) Zainul Abedin.