BNP Standing Committee member and the party’s nominated candidate for Cox’s Bazar–1 constituency, Salahuddin Ahmed, has said that the BNP’s core principle is that the national interest will always take precedence over everything else.
“That is why we say ‘Bangladesh first’,” he said.
Salahuddin Ahmed made the remarks on Friday morning while addressing an election street rally organised by the local BNP unit at Dulahazara union in Chakaria upazila.
He said the future Bangladesh would be a democratic Bangladesh and, Inshallah, the next government would be a BNP government—one committed to development and good governance.
“The next government will establish good governance, justice, a discrimination-free society and state, and a system founded on human dignity,” he said. “This is the Bangladesh envisioned by the freedom fighters and desired by the martyrs of the mass uprising.”
Calling on voters to support his party, Salahuddin urged people to cast their ballots for the sheaf of paddy on February 12 to realise that vision.
Later the same day, while addressing another election rally organised by the Christian community at Malumghat in Chakaria, he said the BNP believed not in religious extremism but in religious tolerance.
“Our goal is to move the country forward in unity, based on a shared Bangladeshi identity that includes people of all religions and ethnicities,” he said. “We want to build a Bangladesh where Hindus, Muslims, Buddhists, and Christians all share a single identity—Bangladeshi.”
He added that the BNP had never believed in religious or ethnic division and would never do so in the future. “Bangladeshi nationalism clearly defines the identity of every citizen,” he said, noting that the constitution guarantees equal citizenship for all residents of the country.
Salahuddin Ahmed further said that ensuring freedom of religious practice for every citizen was a constitutional obligation of the state, and the BNP remained committed to upholding that guarantee. “Ensuring the security of all places of worship and allowing religious rituals and observances to be conducted without obstruction is the responsibility of the state,” he added.
He also warned that those involved in past attacks on places of worship, including incidents such as the violence of 1992, were well known. “If such forces ever come to power, their current conduct shows that no one would remain safe,” he said.
In the afternoon, Salahuddin Ahmed addressed a public rally as the chief guest at the Muktijoddha Maidan in Cox’s Bazar town in support of BNP candidate Lutfor Rahman Kajol for the Cox’s Bazar–3 constituency.
By Mohammed Morshed and Abdur Rashid Manik
Photo: Courtesy
