Jatiya Nagorik Party (NCP) Convenor Nahid Islam has accused certain political groups of seeking only a swift election to secure power, without any real commitment to reform.
Speaking on Sunday afternoon at a rain-soaked rally in Pirojpur town’s Shaheed Minar square, the 13th day of NCP’s “July March to Build the Nation,” Nahid said, “Some political parties care only about coming to power quickly through elections. Reforms do not matter to them. But we, who took to the streets during the July uprising, have a responsibility to those who joined us and to the martyrs. Whatever storms come, we cannot abandon the streets — we must keep fighting.”
Nahid criticized extortion rackets he said were tormenting business owners and condemned the recent brutal killing of a trader in Dhaka. “We protest the horrific way stones were used to kill one of our businessmen. InshaAllah, with the spirit of the July revolution, we will go to every district.”
He recalled the fall of what he termed Sheikh Hasina’s “fascist regime” during last year’s mass uprising. “That autocratic government clung to power for 16 years through forced rule. They committed every kind of oppression — enforced disappearances, killings, torture, corruption, looting, vote theft, terrorism. People couldn’t vote in three elections. Driven by unbearable injustice, the nation finally took to the streets.”
Nahid stressed that the July uprising was also against inequality. “After the uprising, we said the state must be reformed. We don’t want to return to the old corrupt system. The government that emerged afterward needs our support to rebuild the country.”
The rally was also addressed by NCP Member Secretary Akhtar Hossain, Senior Joint Member Secretary Dr. Tasnim Jara, and Southern Region Joint Chief Organizer Mezbah Kamal. Among those present were senior leaders including Samanta Sharmin, Nahida Sarwar Nibha, Abdul Hannan Masud, Mohammad Ataullah, Dr. Mahmuda Mitu, Mollah Rahmatullah, and Taznuva Jabin, along with over a hundred local activists.
Earlier in the day, Nahid and central NCP leaders visited families of those killed and injured during the July movement in Pirojpur to offer support.
