On Reform Debate, Tarique Rahman Says: “Democracy does not mean agreeing on everything, but respecting differences of opinion.”

Staff Reporter | PNN:
Regarding differences of opinion among alliances on political reform, BNP’s Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman said that democracy does not mean everyone must agree; rather, it is about respecting differing views.

In an exclusive interview with BBC Bangla after 17 years, he said, “If BNP expresses a different opinion on any issue, that is being labeled a problem—this is not the practice of democracy. If I hold a differing view with someone, it is not anti-democratic; it is an expression of democracy itself.”

In the interview, Tarique Rahman stated that BNP is not hiding anything regarding reforms. “The issues we find incorrect, we speak about them directly—that is transparency,” he added.

He also noted that BNP has historically taken bold stances on state reforms. “When authoritarianism prevailed in the country, we said that no one should serve as Prime Minister more than twice. At that time, many people did not have the courage to say this,” he said.

According to Tarique Rahman, those who now raise their voices for reform were silent in the past. “Now it is easy to talk about reform, but during difficult times, it was BNP that spoke out,” he commented.

In the second part of the interview, he also discussed issues such as India–Bangladesh relations, experiences during the One-Eleven period, and BNP’s political stance.