Yunus presented Tarique with July-August Movement trophy in London to take election date

Former chief adviser of interim government, Dr Muhammad Yunus, went to London and presented the election date to the current Prime Minister Tarique Rahman along with the trophy of the July-August movement, claimed State Minister for Local Government Mir Shahe Alam in Parliament.

He made the remarks while participating in the discussion on the motion of thanks on the President’s speech during Tuesday’s parliamentary session. 

The sitting began at 10:30am under the chairmanship of Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed.

Mir Shahe Alam claimed that the trophies of three major movements, including the War of Independence, are kept in the house of the BNP. He said the trophies of the movements of 1971, 1990, and the July-August 2024 movement are all in the BNP’s possession. Such trophies exist only in the BNP’s house and no other political party can display them. 

The Awami League can claim 1971 and 1990 but they do not have the trophy of July-August. Friends of the opposition can speak of July-August but cannot speak of 1971 and 1990.

When opposition members protested, the State Minister said they could make a fuss but they could also talk about the 1990s. 

In the 1986 elections, they participated alongside the Awami League after beating the drum, while the BNP did not. He added that an NCP leader had said outside that the students and the public played in the July movement and the BNP took the trophy.

The State Minister further stated that everyone stood with the students and the public during the July-August movement. The BNP did not take the trophy from anyone. Who is the captain? The head of the interim government, Dr Muhammad Yunus, recognised that. That is why he went to London and handed the trophy along with the election date to the captain of the movement, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. This proves which party and which leader played the main role in leading the students’ and public’s movement. 

He continued as saying everyone protested – there is no room to deny this. But there is only one captain, and the head of the interim government went to London to discuss with that captain and brought back the election date, leading to a free and fair election in the country.

Addressing Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, the State Minister for Local Government said many people may like the heroic freedom fighter Speaker and some may not, but the Speaker represents 1971. 

He added that the reason for the BNP’s success is the independence proclaimer, President Shaheed Ziaur Rahman.

Mentioning many freedom fighters on the government benches, the State Minister said there is no chance of finding such an example on the opposition benches. At that point, opposition members raised an uproar. 

The Speaker then intervened, stating that there are freedom fighters on the opposition bench as well. He himself had seen on the battlefield that Jamaat member Gazi Nazrul Islam (Satkhira-3) is a freedom fighter.

Addressing the opposition, the State Minister said the BNP and Jamaat had indeed held a movement together. But after 2014, they could not be found. “We were together for a long time. But we know each other in many ways. We have held movements, fought, and attended rallies in the same meetings.” 

For some unknown reason, however, the opposition is trying to mislead the nation by repeatedly saying they will hold July-August after coming out in secret. It seems the opposition wants to hold July-August in such a way that it appears the Liberation War did not take place in 1971 nor the anti-dictatorship movement of the 1990s. Yet in the 2018 elections, the current opposition leader Shafiqur Rahman and Jamaat leaders, under the banner of the Jatiya Oikya Front, were elected under the symbol of the paddy sheaf on BNP’s nomination.

After the State Minister’s speech, opposition leader Shafiqur Rahman took the floor and said innumerable untrue statements had been made. 

He noted that the Speaker himself had protested against one or two of them, so that no one presents untrue information in Parliament.

The Speaker later said he would examine the statements and if any were unparliamentary or untrue, they would be expunged.