BNP, Ganatantra Mancha meeting held on simultaneous movement

Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Ganatantra Mancha held a meeting on Tuesday to decide on initiatives in their simultaneous movement against the incumbent government. 

The meeting between Ganatantra Mancha and BNP's Liaison Committee was held at the party chairperson's Gulshan office at 11am on Tuesday.

At a press briefing after the two-hour meeting, BNP standing committee member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury said, "The meeting discussed the ongoing anti-government movement. You can see that the simultaneous movement is going on and we have discussed the initiatives that need to be undertaken to take this movement forward more powerfully.”

The BNP is currently carrying out a simultaneous movement with Ganatantra Mancha, the alliance of seven opposition parties which was launched on August 8 last year, against the government. 

Hasnat Kaiyum, the coordinator of Ganatantra Mancha and Rastra Sangskar Andolon, said: "One place for discussion is that the current anti-government movement in Bangladesh is different from the movements that took place in the past.”

“I'm telling you this specifically. We are not just protesting for a change of government, we are working to change this government and to change the structure of these authoritarian governments that came to power, we are working to change the government which would enable us to reform or repair the state,” he said. 

He said BNP, Ganatantra Mancha and all the other parties who are already part of the movement against the government will soon jointly announce “the pathway to future Bangladesh” before the people. 

Nagorik Oikya President Mahmudur Rahman Manna, Bangladesh Biplobi Workers Party General Secretary Saiful Haque, Ganasamhati Andolon Chief Coordinator Zonaid Saki, Bhasani Onusari Parishad Convener Sheikh Rafiqul Islam Bablu and Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (Rab) General Secretary Shahid Uddin Mahmud Swapan were present at the meeting, reports UNB.