Dhaka. Just a day before the last date for filing nomination papers for the February elections in Bangladesh, a major schism has emerged in the student-led National Citizens Party (NCP). Two prominent leaders of the organization have resigned in protest against the alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami and seat sharing.
There are talks of many other disgruntled leaders separating from the organization soon. These leaders have written a letter to the organization’s convenor Naheed Islam, terming the alliance with Jamaat as betrayal and weakening of ideology.
Tasneem Jara, senior joint secretary of the student-led NCP, which emerged from the student movement, announced her resignation on Saturday, according to Bangladesh’s leading newspaper Daily Star. While Joint Secretary Arshadul Haq resigned from the post on Thursday. According to the report, many other disgruntled leaders angry over the alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami may resign soon.
These disgruntled leaders wrote a letter to the organization’s convenor Naheed Islam, terming the alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami as a betrayal of the grassroots leaders and saying that it would weaken the ideology of the party. “Our basis is our party’s declared ideology, historical accountability related to the July Uprising, and fundamental questions of democratic morality,” the letter said.
Referring to the July rebellion, it has been alleged that Jamaat-e-Islami and its student organisation, Islami Chhatra Shibir, have engaged in divisive politics, infiltration, sabotage, false allegations against the NCP, campaigning during student union elections and online character assassination of women members.
The letter cited the Jamaat’s anti-independence role in 1971, its complicity in the genocide and its stance on wartime crimes, saying these were fundamentally inconsistent with the democratic consciousness of Bangladesh and the values of the party.
They say that any alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami will weaken the moral standing of the party and damage the credibility of the party. The letter reminded the leaders that they had earlier also criticized the Jamaat’s dual stance on reform issues.
In a letter to the party convenor, 30 NCP leaders wrote, “If the liberal supporters leave, the party will lose its centrist base. This will harm the independent political capacity of the NCP.” The letter urged to take a clear stand against any alliance with Jamaat.
Initially, the student-led NCP was preparing to contest the elections alone for the last two months, but changed its stance after the assassination of Sharif Usman bin Hadi, the independent candidate from Dhaka-8 and spokesperson of Inquilab Mancho.
Since then, security concerns have increased among NCP leaders and workers, while another strong faction of the party has begun to feel that an alliance with a major political power is necessary to strengthen the NCP’s position in national politics. In this context, it has moved towards an alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami.
However, there is deep objection in the party to the efforts for alliance with Jamaat. Many women leaders associated with the organization have also openly expressed their disagreement against the alliance with religious parties. NCP has not yet made any official announcement regarding the alliance, but it is discussed that the talks on seat sharing with Jamaat are in the final stages, hence the announcement of resignation from the party leaders has started.
Comments are closed.