Tarique Rahman’s August 4, 2026 Speech English Transcript

Tarique Rahman delivered the speech on Aug. 4, 2026, during an event marking the second anniversary of Bangladesh’s July Revolution. The 2024 uprising culminated in the ouster of the government led by Sheikh Hasina and became a defining moment in the country’s recent political history. Speaking two years later, Rahman reflected on the movement, democratic and economic rights, the condition of the state, and his government’s plans for energy, employment, healthcare, education and broader national reconstruction.

Below is his full speech:

Introduction and tributes

In the name of Allah, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful.

Honorable president of today’s discussion program, “17 Years of Irresistible Struggle and the Blood-stained July Awakening,” organized by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party; honorable members of the Standing Committee of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party present on the stage; national leaders of various political parties; our companions from the streets during the anti-autocracy movement; and all the soldiers of the democratic movement, including the anti-autocracy movement and the July movement, present before me:

Assalamu Alaikum.

I think the speakers who addressed you before me have already made almost everything surrounding today’s discussion clear.

Especially considering the points Manna Bhai mentioned at the end, together with the speeches delivered before mine, our desires, aspirations, what we wanted, and what we are seeking have largely been explained.

I do not want to repeat those points at length.

If I summarize all those speeches very briefly, I understand one thing.

Those who made sacrifices and became martyrs during the Liberation War of 1971, the political activists of different parties who later sacrificed their lives on the streets while trying to establish democracy, the people we lost during the July movement, and those who were harmed in different ways during democratic movements over the last 17 years or at other times since independence all shared essentially the same objective.

What was that objective?

First, to establish the political rights of the people of this country.

If we explain political rights simply, they mean the right to speak, the right to express opinions, and the right to make those opinions known.

Throughout the democratic world, the principal way people express their political opinion is through voting.

The objective was to establish that right so people could exercise it.

Unfortunately, at various times since the independence of the country, the people have been prevented from exercising that right.

Political and economic rights

Alongside political rights, there is another right: the economic right of the people.

This means that people from different classes and professions should be able to obtain employment, security and business opportunities according to their qualifications and fully enjoy those rights.

In short, we can consider these among the fundamental aspirations of the people.

National leaders on the stage and my colleagues at different levels before me, we saw during the July movement that different people said different things in attempts to confuse the public.

From our position, we clearly stated that the credit for the success of the July movement belongs to the people of this country from all walks of life.

It is not the achievement of any single individual or any single political party.

For the past 17 years, the people of this country, the leaders and activists of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, and many other political parties that believe in democracy, including many whose leaders are sitting on this stage today, remained in the field.

We remained in the field for 17 years.

Our leaders and activists, whether from the Bangladesh Nationalist Party or any of its affiliated organizations, never abandoned the field.

Our greatest strength is that we never left the people alone.

Because the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the political leaders present here remained in the field, it became clear in Bangladesh and around the world that the autocrat who was in power was truly a fascist autocrat.

If we look at world history, movements develop gradually. At a certain point, the people become directly involved.

That is what happened in Bangladesh during July and August.

The movement succeeded because the people became fully involved.

In other words, the July-August movement was entirely a people’s movement.

It succeeded because the people wanted change.

Similarly, in 1971, we achieved independence because the people of Bangladesh wanted an independent and sovereign state.

31-point reform outline

Respected audience, under the leadership of Begum Khaleda Zia, we were the first to present a reform proposal to the people of Bangladesh.

When we presented that proposal from the platform of a political party, none of the individuals or parties who later began talking about reform had said anything about reform at that time.

Saqi Saheb also highlighted these developments in his speech.

Gradually, we discussed the reform proposal with many political parties that had been our companions on the streets.

Eventually, it became the 31-Point Outline, which we formally presented to the public.

We specifically presented these 31 points to the people during the last election.

I firmly believe that during that election, when the people gave their mandate in favor of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, they also gave their mandate to the 31 points we had presented.

By receiving the people’s mandate, one issue became clear, in my opinion.

The reform proposals, or the points for repairing the state, were first introduced by us through Leader of the Nation Khaleda Zia.

The people subsequently gave their mandate to those proposals through the election.

Therefore, these are no longer merely the 31 points of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party.

I believe they have now become the 31 points of the people.

Respected audience, if we close our eyes for only two seconds, I think every person in this room, and people throughout Bangladesh, can remember the situation we were experiencing on this very day two years ago.

We have spoken about these matters, and that period was also discussed briefly on this stage today.

The people’s July movement succeeded.

The long-desired democratic rights of the people have also advanced significantly toward success.

Our 31 points state that our main objective is to establish the political and economic rights of the people.

Today, we have also declared that these 31 points are the 31 points for reconstructing the state.

State of the nation and energy crisis

Dear audience, when the present government assumed responsibility for running the state on February 17, we already had some understanding of the situation.

But naturally, once we entered government, we saw it more clearly.

We inherited an extremely fragile economy.

We found a broken healthcare system.

We inherited a fragile and divided administration.

That division was not limited to the civil administration. We saw its effects throughout different sections of the administration, including the police administration.

We found a disastrous education system.

In other words, we inherited virtually every system of the state in a devastated condition.

We began performing the responsibilities of government from the 17th.

Within two weeks, the situation in the Middle East began.

Manna Bhai and several others mentioned in their speeches how we tried to manage that situation.

Respected audience, we knew about the condition of the economy we inherited.

During the years of fascist autocracy, $16 billion of the people’s money was looted and laundered abroad.

We saw how the banks were destroyed.

We saw how education, healthcare, agriculture and other sectors were damaged.

When the war situation began after we assumed responsibility, we were understandably concerned about how we would manage everything.

We knew that amid this shattered economy and these devastated institutions, ordinary people were suffering.

Using our capacity, experience, judgment and consultations, we are trying our best to lift the people out of this situation.

We continue to try.

We know that people are experiencing particular difficulties in the energy sector, including oil, gas and electricity.

I began with the energy sector because people in many parts of the country are currently suffering from shortages of energy and gas.

We must address these problems.

But it is also true that the fascist autocrats treated the energy sector primarily as a means of filling their own pockets.

Naturally, rebuilding a sector devastated by years of looting requires time.

Today, I hear many people making different statements.

We do not want to avoid responsibility by offering excuses.

There are problems. We know that.

And we want to solve those problems.

Many people say there is no gas in their homes or factories. Factories cannot operate in many places, and families cannot cook properly at home.

Yes, we admit there is a problem.

Resolving the energy crisis and reviving Bapex

But we are constantly working and trying to find practical ways to solve these problems.

You may have seen in yesterday’s newspapers that we have already begun discussions about importing gas from our neighboring country, Myanmar.

Not only that, but you may remember that some time ago I visited Malaysia and China.

In Malaysia, we held discussions with Petronas.

Petronas does a particular type of technical work, the exact technical name of which I cannot remember at this moment.

They are doing this work across Indonesia and have also signed an agreement with Japan to provide similar assistance for the next 20 years.

They transport liquefied natural gas in containers.

We spoke with them.

Because the discussions were taking some time, last week I personally spoke by telephone with Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to ask whether he could help us move the matter forward.

He told me:

“I am speaking with them tomorrow, and we will see how quickly we can cooperate with Bangladesh.”

Yesterday evening, we held a Zoom meeting with them.

The discussions were largely finalized during that meeting.

Because they already have a 20-year contract with Japan, they must work within those arrangements.

Even so, they will try to share supplies with us and provide gas as quickly as possible, hopefully by this coming October, so that we can supply gas to our factories.

Meanwhile, we are trying to arrange additional supplies in similar ways.

If we can immediately provide gas to approximately eight power plants, then within three to four hours we will be able to add 4,000 megawatts of electricity to the national grid.

We are trying to determine how this can be accomplished.

I am telling you these things because we were shown “Quick Rental” projects and many other things to create the illusion that everything was fine.

But in reality, everything was not fine.

If everything had truly been fine, we would not be facing these problems today.

Let me return to the gas issue.

There is an organization called Bapex whose responsibility is to drill wells in areas of Bangladesh where gas or oil may be found.

For the past 17 years, Bapex was kept almost completely crippled and inactive.

It was not allowed to perform its work.

Instead, the work was largely handed over to foreign entities.

Within one to one and a half months of assuming responsibility, we decided to arrange two drilling rigs for Bapex so the organization could quickly begin extracting resources from areas with potential oil or gas reserves.

We want to use our own mineral resources for our country.

That process is also moving forward.

It may take some time, but Inshallah, I believe we will see good results.

Job creation and foreign investment

We must solve these problems so that the citizens of this country do not suffer.

I believe that the martyrs of July, the warriors of July, those who sacrificed their lives in previous democratic movements, and those who became martyrs in 1971 while fighting with weapons to liberate the country all shared similar hopes.

Surely, one of their hopes was that the people of Bangladesh would properly enjoy electricity, gas and other basic services.

But providing electricity and gas alone is not enough.

Our democratic fighters certainly had the goal of establishing democratic rights.

Alongside that, they surely wanted the people of this country to have employment opportunities.

They say there are 27 lakh, or 2.7 million, unemployed people in our country.

But I believe unemployment is much higher than 27 lakh.

Can we send all these unemployed people abroad?

We cannot.

Competition abroad is very high now.

You have seen various reports in the news. I do not want to go into the details right now.

However, I remain highly optimistic.

As I mentioned earlier, when I went to Malaysia, I spoke with their government.

Last week, our Arif Saheb, the minister of expatriates’ welfare, also traveled there and held discussions with the government.

Their government stated that restrictions on Bangladeshi workers had been lifted.

That means they have now agreed that Bangladeshi citizens can travel there for employment.

We are working to make sure people can go as quickly as possible.

By saying this, I want to emphasize that we are working to create employment opportunities both at home and abroad.

For domestic employment, we are speaking with various local and foreign investors.

We are reassuring domestic investors and encouraging them through policy support.

We are not talking about giving them special loans or interest benefits.

We are talking about policy support.

You may remember that I first traveled to China and spoke with various investors there.

Even before going to China, we moved as quickly as possible regarding the Chinese Export Processing Zone in Anwara, Chittagong.

You saw that last week both the finance minister and the home minister visited the site.

We have allocated a location for the Chinese where several hundred Chinese investors can establish factories.

When I went there, I asked them how much time they would need.

They said they would need approximately four years.

I told them:

“Four years will not do. I want you to start within 18 months. I want to open the first phase within 18 months.”

At that time, two factories had already joined.

I told the people working there:

“Look, I have seen Chinese people begin projects in different parts of the world and in your own country. A bridge scheduled to take three years is sometimes completed in two years.

“So I challenge you. I want to open the factory here within 18 months. I want to inaugurate the new factory that you build.”

They replied:

“We accept your challenge.”

They said they hoped, Inshallah, that the arrangements could be completed quickly.

We often hear about completely changing the economic landscape of the country.

What does that mean?

It means creating a country where employment is generated, factories are established, and products manufactured here are exported abroad.

The number of unemployed people is more than 2 crore, or 20 million.

As I said, it is not merely 27 lakh.

Somewhere it was written that the number of educated unemployed people was 27 lakh.

But the actual number is much higher.

Around 27 lakh are being added annually.

Every year, another 27 lakh people enter the employment market.

Now unemployment may be 4 crore, or 40 million, depending on how it is calculated.

Young entrepreneurs and bilateral agreements

You have seen that a few days ago we launched a project called the Startup Fund at Dhaka University.

We want to encourage the entrepreneurs of our country, especially young entrepreneurs.

We firmly believe that if we support our entrepreneurs, the entrepreneurs of today can create numerous employment opportunities in the future.

Therefore, we are adopting plans designed to accelerate the economy and create employment for unemployed people, whether at home or abroad.

You may have seen in today’s newspapers that the trade minister of Korea came to Bangladesh yesterday and probably left today.

He came to meet me, and I spoke with him.

A new memorandum of understanding was signed with Korea, making it easier for Korean investors to invest here.

They had faced various obstacles.

They wanted to come to Bangladesh, but certain legal issues prevented them from doing so.

I told them:

“Tell me which laws need to be corrected. We will correct the laws quickly.”

The Korean trade minister and our trade minister signed the memorandum of understanding, which should make it much easier for their investors to come here.

They also have an Export Processing Zone.

I told them:

“If you decide to come, we have already set aside a place in Narayanganj near the Shitalakshya River where several closed factories are located, including Bawany Jute Mill and another large facility beside it.”

We have earmarked an area containing two or three closed mills for companies interested in establishing semiconductor or electronics industries.

I told the Koreans:

“You should come here. We can arrange the location for you because Koreans are extremely well known and skilled in semiconductors and electronics.

“Companies such as Samsung or similar firms should come. We will arrange the site and provide whatever policy support you need.”

About an hour or an hour and a half before I came here today, the Saudi minister of state for foreign affairs, who has arrived in Bangladesh, came to meet me.

He discussed several matters.

He mentioned solar power and said:

“We want to invest in solar.”

I replied:

“Send whoever is going to carry out the project. We will arrange the rest as quickly as possible.”

We are also inviting our domestic investors.

You have probably seen reports about this in the newspapers.

We are talking to domestic industrialists, inviting them in different ways, listening to their problems and trying to solve those problems.

A speaker here mentioned the government-owned factories that remain closed under various state organizations.

Altogether, there are approximately 50 closed mills and factories sitting idle with large amounts of land and buildings.

They have remained closed for years.

The government continues spending money on them year after year without producing anything.

We have held many meetings about these facilities and are speaking with domestic and foreign businesses.

We hope that within the next six or seven months, we will be able to restart many of these closed mills.

They would operate through the private sector and, Inshallah, create employment for several thousand people.

Healthcare reforms and tax relief

These are some of the things we are doing.

I have discussed employment and energy.

But what about ordinary people, especially poor people who have very limited financial resources?

They receive almost no meaningful healthcare facilities.

So many years after the independence of the country, consider the condition of our Upazila-level hospitals.

Let me tell you something.

Do you know when these 51-bed Upazila hospitals were established?

The hospitals that now have 50 or 51 beds originally had 30 beds during Ziaur Rahman’s tenure.

Many years later, another 20 beds were added under Khaleda Zia.

Now your government has decided, Inshallah, to upgrade these 51-bed Upazila hospitals into 101-bed hospitals within the next five years.

Now consider a disappointing fact.

Do you know that not a single one of these 51-bed Upazila hospitals has a dialysis machine?

Dialysis services are unavailable in Upazila hospitals.

How frustrating that is.

It has been 56 years since Bangladesh became independent, yet we have not been able to install kidney dialysis machines in Upazila hospitals.

Even at the district level, many hospitals do not have them.

But you will be pleased to know that within the next three to six months, we are establishing 50-bed dialysis facilities in districts that have medical colleges.

Where there is no medical college, we are establishing 10-bed dialysis facilities in general hospitals.

Within the next two to three years, we will expand this program to the Upazila level.

Inshallah, within two to three years, we will arrange at least 10 dialysis beds in every Upazila so that patients can receive dialysis treatment locally.

You may also have noticed something about the budget.

We often hear people talk about a “people-friendly budget.”

This time, we are trying to create a budget that genuinely benefits the people.

You have seen that the government has withdrawn or reduced taxes by 50% on many healthcare-related items.

We have cardiac doctors here.

There is a doctor named Bitto with us who is a cardiac specialist.

Previously, cardiac stenting could cost around Tk 120,000 to Tk 130,000.

Because we cut the duty on stents by half in the latest budget, the cost has now fallen to approximately Tk 50,000 to Tk 60,000.

Similarly, because taxes related to dialysis have been reduced, the cost for each patient should fall by approximately Tk 800 to Tk 1,000.

Previously, dialysis cost around Tk 2,000.

Now it should come down to approximately Tk 1,200.

We have also reduced the tax on eye lenses almost to zero.

I am not talking about decorative lenses.

I mean corrective lenses that people genuinely need.

This will also provide significant benefits to poor people.

Youth, information technology and education

Similarly, everyone talks about the younger generation.

To encourage young people and enable them to work effectively in information technology, taxes on information technology-related products have been reduced almost to zero.

This should create many employment opportunities.

Now, respected audience, let me speak briefly about education.

You have seen that we want to change the education system.

The Maghrib call to prayer will be announced shortly.

You have been sitting patiently for approximately four to four and a half hours.

Some of you may wonder how what I am saying relates to today’s July program.

It relates for this reason.

Look at what we are saying.

I say this with some pride.

Compare what your government is saying and doing with what political parties outside the government are saying.

Think about it calmly.

How much substance is there in their words?

How much planning, programming, organization and thought is behind what they say?

Look carefully.

There is none.

But the 31 points presented before the people of this country clearly state what the Bangladesh Nationalist Party intends to do in education, healthcare, industry, banking and every other major sector.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party has presented these plans before the people.

Can you name another political party in Bangladesh that has done this?

We do politics for the people.

Please, wait. Shouting slogans at this moment feels awkward.

Listen first.

Understand first.

Then try to deliver based on that understanding.

No other political party has done these things.

From other political parties, we have mostly heard empty words and loud rhetoric.

We have heard arguments, criticism and attempts to make others look bad.

It reached a point, and in some cases continues today, where the attitude seems to be:

“I am good, and everyone else is bad.”

We do not want to enter into this debate about who is good and who is bad.

Our politics is about the people. Our politics is about the country.

We saw how Shaheed President Ziaur Rahman worked from morning until night for the people of this country.

From digging canals to working in the capital, we saw how he worked for the country and its people.

We saw how Leader of the Nation Khaleda Zia worked for the people.

She worked to empower our farmers and make them self-reliant.

We saw how Shaheed Zia worked to educate the children of this country.

We saw how he worked to make Bangladesh self-reliant through industries and factories.

We saw how the garment industry that makes us proud today began during Shaheed Zia’s time.

That industry has now made Bangladesh the world’s second-largest garment exporter.

Delivering results instead of rhetoric

We also saw that during Leader of the Nation Khaleda Zia’s tenure, the industry minister of the autocrats who later came to power was forced to acknowledge that nearly 80,000 industries and factories had been established in Bangladesh between 1991 and 1996 under Khaleda Zia.

We have seen their contributions.

Therefore, our party wants to continue along that same path.

We want to carry out work whose benefits directly reach the people.

People should experience the results of our work rather than simply hearing speeches about it.

People should be able to say:

“Yes, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party has done these things.

“Because the Bangladesh Nationalist Party has done these things, my family, my children and I are in a safer position.

“Because the Bangladesh Nationalist Party has done these things, my family, my children and I are moving toward a secure and beautiful future.”

Respected audience, this should be our politics.

Many people will say many things.

There is no need to pay attention to everything everyone says.

Come, we have taken an oath to deliver for the people of this country.

We will deliver for the people.

We will deliver results.

What have we gained?

Yes, I know that those of you present in this room today, including those sitting on this stage, have endured different forms of oppression and torture.

Many of you have lost things in your lives.

I have lost my home and everything else.

The house I left when I went away was no longer there when I returned.

Many of us have lost many things.

But the time and circumstances have arrived for us to change our mindset.

Instead of asking what we ourselves will receive, we should remember what we have already sacrificed during the last 17 years.

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party, nationalist forces and our colleagues from other political parties have all sacrificed.

We gave our time.

We gave our sweat.

We spent whatever money we could for politics.

We deprived our own families and spent our wealth, resources and time for the country and its people.

We did it to establish democracy.

We did it to establish the economic and political freedom of the people.

Spirit of the July Awakening

Therefore, come.

The people have given their verdict in your favor.

Now it is our responsibility to properly and sincerely perform the duties the people have entrusted to us.

What we ourselves will receive is not the important question.

What we can give to the country and its people should be the oath and pledge of today’s program commemorating the blood-stained July Awakening.

We must compete with one another in giving.

We should ask:

“What can we deliver?”

Look at what happened a few days ago during the primary school football tournament for boys and girls.

Twenty-two lakh, or 2.2 million, children participated.

Sports competitions were also held in eight disciplines for children between the ages of 12 and 14.

Whenever we hold discussions or give speeches, people talk about many different problems.

But there is one problem that people repeatedly mention whenever we visit different districts during elections or on other occasions.

What is that problem?

Our young people are becoming involved with drugs. They are becoming addicted in different ways.

How many of them can you treat?

How many can you arrest and put in prison?

Is that possible?

It is impossible to imprison or provide treatment to thousands, lakhs or crores of people.

So what must we do to find a solution?

All of us have passed through the ages of 15, 16, 17, 18, 20 and 22.

We know from experience what happens during those years.

Young people naturally have tremendous mental and physical energy.

We must provide them with an avenue where that energy can be used.

Where should they use it?

If you organize sports for young boys and girls, they can use their energy there.

If you organize science fairs, they can use their energy there.

When I was young, I wanted to learn to play the guitar and the piano.

For some reason, I was unable to do so.

Many of you probably had similar desires.

Some wanted to paint but never had the opportunity to learn.

Millions of children have similar dreams.

We must provide them with those opportunities.

Only then, instead of following the wrong path, will they have the opportunity to choose the right one.

Story of Fatema’s son

Those of you who are leaders and activists of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party are familiar with the name Fatema.

Surely you all know her.

Fatema stayed with my mother and even went to jail with her.

Fatema has a son.

The other day, Zaima was telling me about something involving him.

Let me tell you what happened.

Fatema’s son now lives with her.

When Fatema was staying with my mother, he lived in their village home.

Now he has grown up, and he and his children live in a small rented house in Dhaka, not far from our house.

One day, her son said to her:

“Mother, please enroll me in such-and-such football club.”

He mentioned the name of a club.

“It will cost about Tk 1,500.”

She asked:

“Why do you want to spend Tk 1,500 to play in a football club?”

He replied:

“Yes, I want to play football because if I play football and do this training alongside my studies, I can stay busy.

“I have some friends whom I do not really like. But if I do not go to the club, they will drag me along with them, and I may not be able to remain on the right path.

“So if you enroll me there, I can stay busy with football alongside my studies.”

Look at this, leaders.

When a child is thinking about his own future in this way, why should we not think collectively about doing something good for all the children of our country?

Why should we not try?

We must understand what our children want.

We must build that path for them and guide them along it.

The people of the country have given us this responsibility.

Leaders, let us try to fulfill it.

That is why we are organizing these programs.

That is why we say “Learning with Happiness.”

We want to restructure and operate our education programs according to that idea.

This is the spirit of July, the spirit of independence, or whatever name you may choose to give it.

We believe in this approach.

I grew up seeing Shaheed Zia think in this way about the country and its people.

I saw Khaleda Zia think in this way about the country and its people.

Naturally, I too will think in this way about my country and my people.

Time to reconstruct Bangladesh

Respected audience, I think our speeches have already become quite long and much has been said.

There have been movements.

There have been struggles.

There have been discussions.

There have been arguments.

Now is the time to reconstruct the country.

Now is the time to move the country forward.

Now is the time to patiently and calmly remain vigilant against the conspiracies of those who want to conspire against us and to keep the public alert.

At the same time, we must gradually implement the plans we presented to the people.

We must implement what we promised to do for them and the way we promised to reconstruct the country.

The people now want us to implement our promises.

The people want peace on the streets.

The people want proper education for their children.

The people want healthcare.

The people want security.

The people want employment opportunities.

They want the freedom to conduct business, engage in trade or obtain jobs according to their qualifications.

That is what the people want.

At the same time, they want their political rights so they can exercise those rights when the proper time comes.

The kinds of things we have been seeing in politics and in the newspapers over the last few days are not things that, in my opinion, any citizen who believes in democracy wants to see in the country.

I believe you will more or less agree with me.

Standing with those affected by the July movement

So let us dedicate ourselves to the work the people want us to do.

Since today’s discussion centers on the July movement, there is one more matter I must mention.

During July, many people were affected and harmed in different ways.

They included members of my own party, members of other political parties who stood with us on the streets, and countless known and unknown individuals who were not involved in politics.

To the extent possible on our part, on the part of the government and according to the government’s capacity in the coming days, I want to state one thing very clearly:

We stand with those who were affected during the July movement.

We will stand beside these people to the best of our ability.

We will arrange treatment for those who require medical care.

And, Inshallah, we will arrange employment for those who need jobs.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I will not prolong my speech.

I pray for the salvation of the souls of all those who became martyrs during the Liberation War, during various democratic movements and during the July movement.

I also express my gratitude and deepest sympathy to all those who were injured, including known and unknown political activists and leaders who were harmed in different ways.

With that, I conclude my speech.

Allah Hafez.

Bangladesh Zindabad.

Bangla Original Speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9Uh8dcTeqo