BNP Secretary General and Local Government Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has accused the opposition of returning to what he described as the “old” political style of former prime minister Sheikh Hasina.“We have an opposition party. It has started playing the same role as before. They have started speaking in the language Hasina used—‘we will not allow it, we will not let it continue, we will not let it end,’” he said.Fakhrul made the remarks at the Rangpur District Shilpakala Academy on Sunday afternoon while inaugurating an initiative aimed at improving the livelihoods of disadvantaged people and helping them become self-reliant.He said the BNP government had been in power for only four to five months and had already brought about significant changes.“An economy reduced to ruins is being rebuilt and a devastated administration is being reorganised. The task is not so easy that everything can be changed overnight,” he said.Fakhrul accused the previous Awami League government of failing to properly develop Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company (Bapex), saying the organisation had been revived by the current government.He said Bangladesh had to import oil and gas by ship, costing billions of dollars. The country, he added, suffered losses of nearly $4 billion amid the Iran-US conflict, although there had been no interruption in fuel supplies.Fakhrul said the country had undergone major changes following the end of what he called “fascist rule”.He claimed that 6 million people had faced cases and 20,000 people had been killed, while 1,700 had allegedly been subjected to enforced disappearance during the previous government.Referring to Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, Fakhrul said the prime minister had spoken about having “a plan” when he first returned to Bangladesh.“He did not talk politics that day. He said he had a plan to change the country and improve the economic condition of its people,” Fakhrul said.He said the government was implementing promises made before the election, including Family Cards and Farmers’ Cards, debt waivers for indebted farmers, canal excavation programmes and allowances for religious leaders including imams and Hindu priests.Fakhrul said Tarique Rahman also wanted to develop northern Bangladesh as an agriculture-based region to create employment opportunities.Praising expatriate Bangladeshis, he said they had played a major role in the movement for democracy by informing the international community about the situation in Bangladesh. He specifically mentioned Mushfiqul Fazal Ansari.Fakhrul also claimed that journalists now had greater freedom to write and speak than during the Awami League government.He said the government was committed to fulfilling its promises to the people and working for the country’s development.At the event, 25 tea stalls were handed over to 25 disadvantaged people in the Rangpur region under an initiative funded by US-based charity Love Share BD to help improve their livelihoods and make them self-reliant.Mushfiqul Fazal Ansari, Chairman of Rangpur Development Authority Shamsuzzaman Samu, reserved women’s seat MP Rejeka Sultana Fency, Deputy Commissioner Ruhul Amin and District Council Administrator Saiful Islam, among others, attended the programme.