Govt committed to presenting outline of democratic Bangladesh: CA

Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus today
said his government is committed to presenting an outline of democratic
Bangladesh for the future generation.

“We are committed to formulating an outline of a democratic Bangladesh for
our children so that we don’t fall into the hands of any dictatorship and we
can say we live in a democratic country…so that we all can claim that this
country is ours – we’re working towards this goal,” he told the televised
address before the nation this afternoon.

Urging all not to take the law into their own hands, Prof Yunus warned that
if anyone takes the law into his or her own hands and creates a chaotic
situation in the society, he or she will definitely be brought to justice.

“We (Bangladesh) are a nation of communal harmony. No one shall do any act
that destroys religious harmony,” he said.

At the onset of his speech, the chief adviser recalled the martyrs and the
victims who participated in the student-people revolution against the fascist
force.

He reiterated that the families of all the martyrs would be rehabilitated
while the government will bear the entire expenditures for the treatment of
all injured students, workers and commoners.

A complete list of martyrs and injured has been prepared for the long-term
and costly treatment for the injured and looking after the families of the
martyrs, he said, adding that updates of this list will be made.

The 2006 Nobel Peace Laureate said the government took an initiative to
establish a foundation named ‘July Ganahattya Smriti Foundation’ to preserve
the memory of the martyrs of the mass uprising.

“Now this foundation has been established. This foundation is taking full
responsibility of all martyrs’ families and families of victims along with
providing best treatment to injured ones. We urge all people of the country
and Bangladeshis living abroad to donate to this foundation,” he said.

About law and order situation, Prof Yunus said his government is sincerely
working to improve the law and order in the country.

Many people, he said, have been staging rallies and demonstrations to express
their pains they suffered in the last 16 years and seeking its remedy, which
created impediment to the movement of people.

“I promise you that I will not forget your righteous plea. We are committed
to giving remedy to all wrongs. We will try best to resolve all problems as
much as possible within our responsibility. I again request you to refrain
from disrupting your movement. The nation will be grateful to you,” he said.

Referring to the allegations of workers in RMG and medicine industries, the
chief adviser said the institutional structure is almost destroyed, while
foreign exchange reserves have hit rock bottom.

“We are trying to bring life into this economy. We are also getting response
to our initiative. If our industrial plants are closed down and get non-
operational at this time, the country’s economy will be hit hard. That cannot
be expected in anyway,” he said.

The chief adviser asked the factory owners to resolve their problems in
consultation with workers and keep their factories operational, resulting in
making the poor economy healthy.

Prof Yunus said all should work together to build a society based on
justice, while the criminal cases, except murder cases, filed from July 1 to
August 5 to suppress the mass movement have been withdrawn and all
those arrested in these cases have been released.

He said the interim government has embarked on major reforms in
judiciary since taking of its office.

Appointment of the most qualified person as the Chief Justice has
instilled new hope in people’s minds, he said, adding that appointment
of Judges of Appellate Division, Attorney General and many important
appointments have all been completed.

The false cases filed under the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Digital/Cyber
Security Act to harass people are being withdrawn, the chief adviser said.

He said there are many black laws including the Cyber Security Act in
Bangladesh and those black laws will be repealed and amended soon.

Prof Yunus said assistance is being provided for the investigation into
and trial of the five much-talked-about murders, including the killing of
journalist Sagar-Rony, on a priority basis and for settlement these cases
at the earliest time.

The government, he said, recently signed an international convention to
protect people from enforced disappearance and “as a result, we are
committed internationally to ending the ‘the culture of disappearance’
established by dictatorship”.

“We are also forming a separate commission to investigate every case of
enforced disappearance during the 15 years of fascist rule,” he said.

Aynaghor (Mirror house) has been closed and at the same time the story
of the suffering and pain of families of the people disappeared by the
fascist Hasina government is coming out, the chief adviser said.

“We have our full eye on the education system to ensure a bright future
for our young generation,” he said.

“Already, the present flawed curriculum from class I to class XII has been
changed. The work of correcting and revising the textbooks is at final
stage. This reform work will continue,” he added.

In the first month, Prof Yunus said, the government started the process
of appointing Vice-Chancellors and Pro Vice-Chancellors, who are
acceptable to all, in every university.

As a result, an environment has been created to start work with new
enthusiasm in all public and private universities, he said.

Claiming that the full freedom of press and expression has already been
ensured, the chief adviser said the government is considering formation
of a Media Commission so that the media can do their work smoothly.

He said to indentify the fake freedom fighters and skip the names of
freedom fighters with age of less than 12.5 years during the liberation
war from the list of freedom fighters, the government has taken an
initiative to summit leave to appeal before the Supreme Court.

Measures have also been taken to recover the grabbed immovable assets
of the Freedom Fighters’ Welfare Trust, he added. (BSS)