Staff Correspondent

Accusing the defeated forces of trying to create chaos to derail the upcoming national election, Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus on Saturday called upon all anti-fascist democratic forces to remain united in resisting such evil efforts.

“If all pro-uprising forces fail to come together to hold a nice election, we will miss a big opportunity,” the Chief Adviser said during an exchange of views with top leaders from various political parties at the state guesthouse Jamuna.

The Chief Adviser said the defeated forces are creating trouble whenever they get a chance. “By doing these, they are seriously disrupting the country’s natural progress.”

“Whenever we move forward with election preparations, fresh conspiracies begin to surface. But the reality is that no conspiracy can hinder the journey towards democratic progress as the unity among democratic forces against fascism is now clearly visible,” he observed.

Prof Yunus expressed the hope that all political parties will cooperate fully in ensuring a free and fair election.

The political leaders present at the meeting also assured the Chief Adviser of their full support.

Aminul Haque Tipu Biswas of the Jatiya Gano Front, Mostafa Jamal Haider of the 12-party alliance and of Jatiya Party (Kazi Zafar faction, Maulana Abdul Majed Athari of Nezam-e-Islam Party, Maulana Yusuf Ashraf of Bangladesh Khelafat Majlish, Fariduzzaman Farhad of the National People’s Party (NPP), Dr Mushtaq Hossain of Bangladesh Jasad, Bobby Hajjaj of the Nationalist Democratic Movement, Mufti Sakhawat Hossain Raji of Islami Oikya Jote, Rafiqul Islam Babul of Bhasani Janashakti Party, Dr Mostafizur Rahman Iran of Bangladesh Labour Party, Masud Rana of the Socialist Party of Bangladesh (Marxist), and Manjurul Islam Afendi of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, among others, attended the meeting.

At the start of the meeting, a one-minute silence was observed in memory of those who lost their lives in the recent plane crash into Milestone School and College.

A munajat (prayer) was also offered, seeking peace for the departed souls and a swift recovery for the injured.

The meeting began around 5pm at the state guest house Jamuna, said Chief Adviser’s Senior Assistant Press Secretary Foyez Ahammad.

As part of his efforts to engage with a broad range of political stakeholders, the Chief Adviser began this new round of talks with a meeting on Tuesday with leaders of four major political parties-- BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami, Islami Andolan Bangladesh and National Citizen Party (NCP).

A day later, Dr Yunus also held discussions with leaders from 13 other political parties, including Gonosamhati Andolon, AB Party, Nagorik Oikya, Gono Odhikar Parishad, LDP, Khelafat Majlis, Biplobi Workers Party, JSD and CPB.