BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Tuesday said reforms and structural changes in the State must lead to real improvements in public life, especially for children.

“We want a change in the state structure and we want reforms. But if these reforms and changes don’t help ensure the overall development of our people, don’t help build a better future for our children or give them a secure life, then I think such reforms will be of no use,” he said.

Fakhrul made the remarks while speaking at a programme titled ‘Children in Democratic March’, jointly organised by ‘Amara BNP Poribar’ and ‘Mayer Daak’ at the Kemal Ataturk Playground in Banani, to honour the families of those who were forcibly disappeared and the children killed in the July Uprising.

Expressing deep frustration, he said the state has taken little or no initiative to support the families who have lost their loved ones in democratic movements.

The BNP Secretary General hoped that the government will take urgent and meaningful steps to rehabilitate children and families affected by enforced disappearances and the mass movement in the country.

“I hope that our interim government, despite the delay, will prioritise their rehabilitation, considering the pain and suffering they have endured while searching for their fathers, relatives and brothers,” he said.

Fakhrul also criticised the ineffectiveness of the commission formed to investigate enforced disappearances. “Though a Commission of Inquiry on Enforced Disappearances was formed, it has only submitted a report. I don’t think they have made much progress (in finding the missing people or the facts).”

The BNP leader said the families of those who were forcibly disappeared or killed in democratic movements, including children, have made immense sacrifices in the long struggle for the restoration of people’s lost rights.

“With the change that took place in the country (on August 5 last year), many people secured powerful positions -- some became ministers, others top officials, and many established large businesses. But when it comes to our children, we have not been able to move forward in the same way,” he said.

Fakhrul said they expected the current government, even as an interim one, to form a special cell for the rehabilitation of these children and their families. “Unfortunately, that has not happened,” he said.

He promised that if BNP is elected to power in the upcoming national election with people’s mandate, the party would take all necessary steps to rehabilitate the families and children of the victims.

Fakhrul concluded his speech with a heartfelt appeal, “Let us come together and build a safe and liveable environment for these children—a child who still stands holding a placard, waiting for their father to return. We don’t know whether that father is alive or if we can bring him back—but we can at least work to ensure that the child has a better life and a hopeful future. This is a debt we can never fully repay.”