Home Minister fails to ensure law, order: Nahid

National Citizen Party (NCP) Convener and Opposition Chief Whip Md Nahid Islam blamed Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmad for the country’s deteriorating law-and-order situation, while also terming the Prime Minister’s recent United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) address a failure to reflect the people’s expectations.

Speaking at a press conference at the NCP’s temporary central office in Banglamotor on Monday, Nahid alleged that law and order had deteriorated further since the BNP government took office and that the Home Minister had failed to discharge his responsibilities. 

“It is impossible to restore law and order while keeping this Home Minister in charge,” he maintained. His criticism followed recent vandalism at the Radda MCH-FP Centre in Mirpur and content creator Salman Muqtadir’s studio, which he described as evidence of administrative inaction.

Nahid also criticised Tarique Rahman’s UNGA address, arguing that it failed to raise issues of immediate national concern. He pointed to the fuel crisis, border killings, Bangladesh-India relations, Sheikh Hasina’s stay in India, the Rohingya crisis and the stalled Teesta project. “We believe the expectations of the people were not reflected there and their aspirations were not presented,” he remarked.

He also alleged that poverty alleviation and job creation had not received adequate attention at home, while claiming that benefits under the government’s ‘Family Cards’ programme were being distributed to party loyalists.

Nahid alleged that the space for free expression was narrowing and that people were being arrested for criticising the government. Referring to a DMP official’s remark about NCP leader Nasiruddin Patwary, he questioned whether the police were performing their constitutional duties or acting as a political force.