Fakhrul urges BNP followers to strongly counter misinformation in cyberspace
Stating that there is a campaign underway to brand their party as a negative force in politics, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Sunday urged the party leaders and workers to be active in cyberspace to counter misinformation and not let conspiracies defeat them.
Inaugurating BNP’s six-day “Plan to Build the Nation” programme, he also accused a vested quarter of trying to create division in the country in the name of religion.
“A trend has emerged now to portray BNP as a negative political party on a large scale. This trend must be broken, and we have to do it ourselves,” Fakhrul said.
He said BNP leaders and activists must prove through their actions — by taking forward and implementing the plans of Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman — that their party is the one which in the past introduced key political and economic reforms and helped Bangladesh advance. “In the same way, under the leadership of Tarique and the BNP, Bangladesh will again move forward and become one of the prosperous economies and countries in the future.”
The BNP leader said Bangladesh is now at a critical turning point as after 15 years of authoritarian rule a chance has come to return to democracy.
He said many obstacles have already appeared and more will come, but BNP must overcome them and achieve success.
“Many types of plots and propaganda are going on against us — false campaigns are being spread. The biggest challenge is this misinformation. We must work against it with our own actions. I always say — this is a cyber war. If we cannot become fighters in this cyber war, then we will be defeated,” Fakhrul said.
He said the young generation must take responsibility for tackling false information online.
Recalling the struggles under authoritarian rule, he said BNP always stressed in district and divisional meetings that the youth must come forward.
Pointing at the leaders and activists of BNP’s student wing, Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, Fakhrul said they must remember that the biggest challenge ahead is the upcoming national election. “In that election, you must prove that BNP is the only political party that can turn the country into a prosperous nation. This is your first task. And all the necessary tools are being provided to you.”
He said BNP leaders and activists must tell the people that whatever success Bangladesh has achieved came through BNP’s initiatives.
“Today, a group is trying to create deep divisions in Bangladesh — they want to divide the country in the name of religion. We Bangladeshis are religious people. We respect our faith. But we do not believe in dividing the state or society using religion,” the BNP leader said.
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He said BNP believes that people of all religions in Bangladesh will live together and enjoy equal rights, upholding the core spirit of the 1971 Liberation War that Bangladesh belongs to everyone.
“That is why the slogan ‘Bangladesh First’ given by our leader (Tarique) is extremely important — both nationally and internationally. We must keep this slogan in our hearts and move forward with this principle,” Fakhrul said.
On November 27, BNP announced a six-day programme titled “Plans to Build the Country”, involving its affiliated bodies including Chhatra Dal, Krishak Dal, Ulema Dal and Swechchhasebak Dal, ahead of the upcoming national election.
Fakhrul inaugurated the programme at the Krishibid Institution Bangladesh (KIB) auditorium in Dhaka’s Farmgate. BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman is scheduled to address the concluding session in the afternoon.