BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman has stated that the country’s most urgent need is to ensure an uninterrupted, free and fair national parliamentary election to create conditions for forming a welfare-oriented and accountable government.

In a Victory Day message, Rahman said the pledge on this historic day should be to build a discrimination-free Bangladesh by setting aside all forms of division and violence and standing by people as fellow human beings.

Extending warm greetings to Bangladeshis at home and abroad on the occasion of Victory Day, Rahman recalled that the country achieved victory on December 16, 1971, after nine months of a bloody Liberation War. He wished the nation peace, happiness and prosperity.

He paid deep tribute to the martyred freedom fighters of the Liberation War and prayed for the salvation of their souls, while also saluting the mothers and sisters who made the highest sacrifices for independence.

Rahman said the Liberation War, launched following the March 26, 1971 declaration of independence by martyred President Ziaur Rahman, culminated in the defeat of Pakistani occupation forces on December 16. The victory, he said, was won through the supreme sacrifices of valiant freedom fighters, making the day a symbol of national pride, courage and sacrifice.

He alleged that the dream of a democratic state free from exploitation and grounded in social justice had repeatedly been undermined by fascist rule. According to Rahman, democratic rights were stripped away, multi-party democracy was stifled, and freedom of speech, the press and individual liberty were suppressed.

The BNP leader accused past governments of holding successive one-sided elections that ignored public opinion, while opposition voices were silenced through enforced disappearances, killings and false cases. He also referred to the prolonged imprisonment of what he described as an undisputed leader of the democratic movement as an example of repression.

Rahman said the historic July–August mass movement of students and citizens in 2024 led to the fall of a ruthless autocrat, reviving hopes for safeguarding independence and sovereignty and restoring multi-party democracy.

At this critical juncture, he said, the demand of the time is to establish a government elected by the people through a credible and acceptable election.

Concluding his message, Rahman wished success to all Victory Day programmes and called on citizens to uphold unity, tolerance and humanity. He reiterated that the commitment of Victory Day must be to forget division and violence and to stand beside people in the pursuit of a discrimination-free Bangladesh.