Staff Reporter :
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has said politicians are losing unity following the student-people’s mass uprising.
He made the remarks on Monday afternoon at an event held at the Institution of Diploma Engineers in Kakrail, Dhaka.
Mirza Fakhrul said, “After such a major uprising, a great opportunity has been created to rebuild this country beautifully once again.
But we are now seeing all around us that our politicians are losing unity.”
“We see a tone of disunity everywhere. Many of us are getting disheartened.”
Quoting poems by Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam, the BNP Secretary General said, “The future is calling you.
You, who are now stepping into youth, stepping into a new world – that world is calling you. As Dr. Sabur Khan has said, you must prepare yourself to compete with the world.”
“The world has become a world of competition. If you cannot survive, you will be cast aside. You have to reach that level and prepare yourself accordingly.”
The event was organized at the Freedom Fighters Auditorium of the Institution of Diploma Engineers in Kakrail by the monthly magazine Bishwavidyaloy Parikrama to honor students who achieved GPA-5 in the SSC examination. As chief guest, the BNP Secretary General later handed crests and certificates to the meritorious students.
Mirza Fakhrul said, “Unfortunately, our country’s education system is not up to standard; in fact, it is extremely poor. The ones responsible are the politicians, people like us, and our bureaucracy.”
He said, “Very little importance has been given to education. We produce BA and MA graduates from villages in Chandpur or Thakurgaon. They wander around without jobs, because you cannot provide employment to a BA or MA graduate.
But if that person had earned a BSc degree or a diploma in electricity, civil engineering, or another technical field from a polytechnic institute, no one could have stopped him from getting a job. This is where political leadership has failed – in setting policy.”
The event was chaired by BNP’s Training Affairs Secretary Rasheda Begum Hira and conducted by Bishwabidyaloy Parikrama’s Managing Editor Mobarak Hossain.
Among others who spoke were Daffodil International University Chairman Dr. Md Sabur Khan, BNP’s Social Welfare Secretary Kamruzzaman Ratan, Bishwavidyaloy Parikrama’s Chief Editor Harun-or-Rashid, educationists M.A. Sajjad and Jamirul Akhtar, Convener of the Diploma Engineers Institute Kabir Hossain, Member Secretary Kazi Shawkat Hossain, Professor Sarker Mahbub Ahmed Shamim of the Doctors’ Association Dhaka North, and Mosharraf Hossain Pusti, a member of Munshiganj BNP, along with the award-winning students.
Mirza Fakhrul said, “Our teachers are protesting and taking to the streets for better pay.
This could have been avoided if we had restructured the whole system – ensuring higher education only for the very meritorious students and providing vocational and technical training for the majority of average students. That would have benefited us the most.”
“Today, there is no proper system for technical education, no institutions, no vocational centers. We are producing BA and MA graduates instead. How will these young people thrive?”
He emphasized that technical education must be prioritized to create employment opportunities for people.
Mirza Fakhrul said, “We are now going through a transitional period – a time of great uncertainty.
‘Everyone here is from Generation Z, right? Their thinking and worldview are completely different from ours because of the generational gap – that’s undeniable.’
He said, “When Rasheda Begum Hira went to the sea palace Hizbul Bahar with President Ziaur Rahman and was introduced to marine affairs – the world was different then. Now, they (Gen Z) can access the entire world through that small device – the mobile phone. They know far more than we do; we must understand that.”
