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unfortunate but true that the members of a particular political party, which claims to be the greatest saviour of the minority community, have been involved in all the incidents of repression that took place against them in the past.

“They [AL men] were also behind the incidents involving the occupation of land and property belonging to your community [Hindu] in Bangladesh. If our party forms the government in the future, each incident will be investigated impartially, and justice will be ensured.”

At the beginning, Bangladesh Puja Udjapan Parishad General Secretary and daily Kalbela Editor Santosh Sharma highlighted the eight-point demand of their community, calling for justice and exemplary punishment for the injustices and abuses suffered by the minorities.

Fakhrul said some foreign media are spreading propaganda against the communal harmony of Bangladesh with biased and false reports to undermine the political changeover following the fall of the Awami League amid an uprising. “I won’t say nothing happened. Some of the incidents that happened were not communal in nature but political ones.”

The BNP leader recounted how their party leaders and activists struggled for 15 years against the AL government, enduring repression, killings, enforced disappearances, and imprisonment in false cases.

He paid tribute to over 1,500 people who were martyred during the recent mass uprising and called upon the government to provide compensation for the martyrs and support for their families.

Fakhrul, on behalf of the BNP, and its Chairperson Khaleda Zia, and acting chairman Tarique Rahman, extended greetings to the Hindu community on the auspicious occasion of Durga Puja.