Government must be called illegal for contempt of the people's verdict, Nahid Islam says in Mirpur
National Citizen Party (NCP) convener Nahid Islam has said the current government must be called illegal because it has shown contempt for the verdict of 70 percent of the people. There is no scope to call the government half legal and half illegal; the people themselves have begun the work of calling those who show contempt for the people's verdict illegal, he said.
He made the remarks on Sunday afternoon (October 25) at a leaflet distribution and mass-contact programme in Mirpur, in the capital.
Nahid Islam said they had clearly set out the country's current situation. The NCP's position is against the deterioration of law and order, the rise in fuel prices, the repeated increases in the prices of essentials, and unprecedented partisan appointments in state institutions. Extortion, terrorism and mugging are taking place in different parts of the country, but no effective role of the government is visible in tackling them, he alleged.
Criticising the local government state minister's remarks, he said the minister first claimed he had not declared anyone a mayor, and later said he had only spoken of giving support. The state minister who, in office, created a new landlordism in his area in his own child's name and named a union, is now installing an unelected person in a city corporation, introducing him as mayor and seeking the people's support for that person in the coming election. The BNP must answer what kind of democracy this is, he said.
He said the BNP government has installed party cadres in various corporations. In the Awami League era, pro-Awami League bureaucrats were appointed to these posts; but the BNP has installed party people directly and cannot trust even its own bureaucrats. This is the picture of partisanship in the country today, he said.
Nahid Islam said a party person has also been installed as an unelected administrator in Dhaka North City Corporation; he has no moral legitimacy to perform the duties of a mayor. Yet Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is moving around Dhaka with him. Demanding the quick removal of such unelected persons, he said they must not be allowed to take part in the coming city corporation elections. He alleged that these administrators are spending state money to create groups of beneficiaries, giving various work to BNP people without considering merit, and running their own promotion with state funds, which is like election marketing. The same kind of people have been appointed in the district councils too, he said.
He said the BNP in the past had termed the Awami League's tenth, eleventh and twelfth Jatiya Sangsads and governments illegal; the NCP also called them illegal, because those governments had snatched the people's voting rights. But the current BNP government has not legally declared those three governments and parliaments illegal, he alleged.
According to Nahid Islam, legally declaring Hasina's three-term governments illegal required a constituent assembly election; the NCP raised that demand during the interim government. There is still an opportunity to form a Constitution Reform Council, through which an initiative can be taken to build Bangladesh anew, breaking out of the continuity of the old parliament and government and the fascist constitutional structure. If the past three terms of government are not declared illegal, the current government too is maintaining the continuity of Hasina's fascist structure and constitution; whatever good amendments are brought through a one-party constitution amendment committee, a situation could arise in the future to annul the entire amendment and declare the interim period illegal, he warned.
Referring to Ziaur Rahman, he said that through the annulment of the Fifth Amendment the Awami League had tried to establish Ziaur Rahman in history as an illegal usurper of power; there is no guarantee the same will not happen to Tarique Rahman in the future. For Tarique Rahman's own good, he called for quickly forming a Constitution Reform Council to break out of the continuity of the old constitutional structure and establish a new democratic settlement.
Expressing concern over the law-and-order situation, the NCP convener said unrest has spread from the plains to the hills. The government must give a clear statement on why the hills are restive; no clear statement is being received from the home minister on this. The government has failed to keep the hills calm and stable, he alleged; who is creating instability there and how separatist terrorist groups are operating must be placed before the people, he said.
Calling it a question of Bangladesh's sovereignty, Nahid Islam said they welcome the army's role in the hills. But they believe an attempt is being made to make the hills restive because of the government's secret entente with India; they know who supplies arms in the hills and who creates unrest, he said. He alleged that the neighbouring country, to put pressure on Bangladesh, creates instability in the hills, causes loss of life at the border and creates flood situations by opening river dams. What the government's position will be on the Ganges treaty ahead is not clear; he also raised the question of how Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed remains in office after these incidents.
Comparing with the time of the interim government, he said the Awami League was not seen marching in Dhaka then; although the interim government had no political backup, such incidents did not happen at that time, but they are happening under the current government. BNP people are trying to rehabilitate the Awami League through an entente with it, he alleged, and said the BNP will not be any shelter. He also said that in the past six years the BNP could not protect the people of Bangladesh from Awami League oppression; at the time of torture of students at universities, Chhatra Dal leaders and activists could not protect them either, and were themselves victims of torture. To protect Bangladesh from the Awami League and hegemonic forces, students and the public must unite again, as in the July mass uprising, he said.
Calling on the people of Mirpur to join a mass protest programme in front of the National Museum at Shahbagh on October 30, he said the programme would be held to demand action over the deterioration of law and order, the rise in fuel prices, and justice for the July killings.
Saying Asif Mahmud would take part in the Dhaka North City Corporation election, Nahid Islam said he would contest not on behalf of any party but on behalf of the people and the residents of the Dhaka metropolis. During Asif Mahmud's tenure in charge of the local government ministry, work such as reducing traffic congestion in Dhaka North City Corporation, recovering illegal land and building parks at various places was done under his planning; he had planned to build the North City Corporation into a model city. On the corruption case against Asif Mahmud, he alleged that the BNP is using the ACC to suppress political rivals and dissenters; the ACC has been made partisan since coming to power. Noting that the BNP had in the past been world champion in corruption five times, he said it is not known how many times it will be this time.
