BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmad said on Sunday, "We have to glorify Bangladesh in the international community by restoring rule of law in the country".
On return to Bangladesh from India, after nine years he told reporters at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, "Now our prime responsibility is to protect our country form external forces and internal conspiracies. The people in Bangladesh will enjoy their rights equally regardless of religion and opinion."
Congratulating students, he said, "This freedom and victory carry huge meaning. Democracy should be restored by reforming the state structure."
"Those who monopolies power and become authoritarian have no place in this country," he said.
He urged the people to restore law and order in the country.
Salahuddin Ahmed returned home on Sunday after spending over nine years in Shillong, India.
He arrived at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport by an Air India flight at around 2:15pm.
Salahuddin's wife Hasina Ahmed and some BNP leaders, including its vice chairman Barkatullah Bulu, senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi and joint secretary general Khairul Kabir Khokon, received him at the VIP lounge of the airport with garlands.
The Assistant High Commissioner of Bangladesh in Guwahati issued his travel pass on August 6, facilitating his return.
Several thousand leaders and activists of BNP and its associate bodies also gathered at the airport to receive Salahuddin.
After remaining missing for 62 days, Salahuddin, a former state minister, was found in Shillong, the capital of the northeastern Indian state of Meghalaya on May 11, 2015. He was arrested for entering India without valid documents and charged under the Foreigners Act.
Later, Shillong police pressed charges against him in the case.
BNP alleged that Salahuddin was abducted from his home at Uttara, Dhaka, on March 10, 2015, by individuals posing as detectives. On October 26, 2018, a court in Shillong acquitted him of the charge of illegally entering into India.
The verdict was upheld by a higher court on February 28, 2023, which also directed the Indian government to arrange his return to Bangladesh.
