‘I will quit govt if I join political party’

Amid the growing tension between the BNP and the anti-discrimination student movement over the next parliamentary elections, Information and Broadcasting Adviser Md Nahid Islam has said that he will leave the government if he joins a political party.

“I will leave the government if I join a political party,” he said during an interview with BBC Bangla on Friday (January 24).

Regarding the election, Nahid Islam said, “BNP’s tone of speech is matching that of Awami League over the interim government.”

Mirza Fakhrul, in an interview with the BBC, said, “Questions of neutrality of the government might arise as what we are now seeing is that students are considering forming a political party. If representatives of these students are part of this government, neutrality cannot be maintained. If they think they can hold elections keeping their representatives in the government, political parties will not accept it.”

In response, interim government’s Information, Broadcasting, Telecommunication and ICT Adviser Nahid Islam took to Facebook, criticising Fakhrul’s comments as an attempt to create an environment reminiscent of the 1/11 caretaker government.

“Such a plan would go against democracy and national interest, and students and mass people will not accept it in any way,” he wrote.

In this regard, he told BBC Bangla, “The BNP was the first to bring the talk of one-eleven and minus two into the political arena a few days ago.”

Noting that the government was formed with the support of BNP and stakeholders after the coup and the fall of the Awami League government, Nahid Islam expressed ‘skepticism’ about the BNP Secretary General’s statement regarding ‘neutrality’.

Nahid cited that he sees parity between Mirza Fakhrul’s statement and the Awami League’s recent stance, side by side ‘domestic and foreign conspiracies’ to destabilize or remove this government.

Regarding the election, Nahid Islam told BBC Bangla, “To my belief, BNP thinks that this government was formed just to hold an election although trial procedures, reforms and elections are all priorities of the current government.”

And regarding the elections under a neutral government, he said, “We consider the interim government as neutral one. Why does BNP not think it is acting neutral? BNP should clarify this.”