Failure to abandon past political behaviour will lead to consequences in polls: NCP warns BNP over attack on Patwary
"Elections should be contests of ideas, not intimidation. An election means a battle of words. You speak, we speak, and the people decide whom they will vote for," NCP Convener Nahid Islam says.
National Citizen Party (NCP) Convener Nahid Islam has issued a warning to the BNP, saying that if past political behaviour is not abandoned, it would have consequences in the upcoming election.
His remarks came in response to NCP candidate for Dhaka-8 Nasiruddin Patwary being heckled and pelted with eggs while campaigning in front of Habibullah Bahar College in the capital earlier in the day. The party alleged that Chhatra Dal activists were involved in the attack.
BNP Standing Committee member Mirza Abbas is also contesting the same constituency.
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Speaking at an emergency press conference in Dhaka after a campaign today (27 January), Nahid said elections should be contests of ideas, not intimidation. "An election means a battle of words. You speak, we speak, and the people decide whom they will vote for."
Referring to the BNP, he questioned, "Why are you not allowing the people to decide?"
"The public will decide who is rude, who is gangster, who is criminal, and who speaks for the people," he added.
Calling the attack on Patwary a "planned act of political violence", Nahid accused the BNP of using contradictory tactics. "On one hand you speak of good politics, and on the other you try to rehabilitate the politics of violence by attacking opponents in a manner reminiscent of the Awami League. We will not allow this in Bangladesh."
Nahid also warned that the NCP would closely observe how the Election Commission, the college administration, and the BNP respond to the incident. "After that, we will respond on the 12th of January," he said.
Referring to criticism that often invokes Jamaat-e-Islami's past, the NCP chief said the public has not forgotten the past of BNP either. "The people of Bangladesh have not forgotten the period from 2001 to 2006. If past records are brought into the debate, then everyone's past will be discussed."
Nahid further said the NCP was well aware of Mirza Abbas's political history.
He claimed, "Ziaur Rahman once called Mirza Abbas, gave him a motorcycle and Tk30, and asked him to join politics and work in elections. That was the beginning of his political journey with the BNP. From there, he went on to build an empire in Dhaka."
