In a Facebook post on her verified Facebook page, National Citizen Party leader Neela Israfil has finally broken her silence regarding allegations of sexual harassment and intimidation against Joint Convener Sarwar Tushar.
Touching upon how she has always stood against injustice, even against one of Bangladesh’s most powerful man, former attorney general Hassan Ariff, she went on to say that she was a fighter, and that she would continue to fight even if no one would stand alongside her.
She says that, after she was sent to Nepal for her safety, Sarwar Tushar began to frequently call her, and eventually started to say inappropriate things such as “Send me your picture” and “Your lips are beautiful.”
She said, “I always felt uncomfortable and asked him to keep our relationship formal.”
However, she continued to tolerate Tushar’s advances, trying to maintain a formal relationship due to NCP’s nascent status as a political entity.
Later, when the Detective Branch had contacted Tushar to discuss her, he had claimed that Neela was his girlfriend.
She had asked him: “Did anything in my attitude or behavior suggest I would entertain such a proposal?”
She said, “He began influencing my professional life, telling associates to stay away from Neela. He worked to exclude me—from NCP, cultural cells, the women’s wing, and metropolitan committees.”
“On Eid night, I met Nahid and informed him. He advised resolving it through party discipline and notifying Shahriar and Nizam. The next morning, I woke to find the audio leaked and viral. The media trial that followed showed me even my female colleagues wouldn’t stand by me,” she said.
She said, “But my colleagues don’t realise: if Tushar can sexually harass and suppress a woman like me, none of them are safe.”
She said that, because of her, now NCP’s reputation has been tarnished and that she tried to resolve the matter internally, to no avail.
She concludes by saying, “This is my final statement. I’ll say no more. Whatever remains, I’ll tell the investigation committee.”
“I want to move forward,” she ended.