After the long-standing one-party rule of the Awami League, Tarique Rahman has called on the people to be determined to confront any conspiracy to bring back democracy, people's freedom of speech and voting rights.Tarique Rahman, the acting chairman of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), made this call through a post from his verified Facebook ID on Friday (January 24).In a Facebook message, he wrote, 'On January 25, 1975, the then Awami League government, in order to make a permanent arrangement to remain in power, strangled multi-party democracy and established a one-party government system 'Baksal' in place of the multi-party system. In order to establish this system, they ignored the opposition opinions in the National Parliament and passed the inhumane medieval Fourth Amendment Act by force. At that time, they issued a decree to ban all newspapers and keep four newspapers loyal to them open. They have ruined the freedom and democracy that the people have achieved through the long struggle of the countrymen and have spread a terrible anarchy in the society.’

He further wrote, ‘In their illusory dream of prolonging the barbaric rule of one party, they have not hesitated to jeopardize not only democracy but also the unity, solidarity and sovereignty of the country. They have never followed civilized norms and principles in their behavior towards the opposition. At that time, prison was the address of the opposition. The anti-democratic and alienated illegal Awami League government was forced to flee the country on August 5 in the face of a joint protest by students and the public.’Finally, he said, ‘Now, the people must be determined to bring back democracy, freedom of speech and the right to vote by confronting any conspiracy.’