Hasnat Abdullah, Chief Organizer (South) of the National Citizens’ Party (NCP), has accused the Awami League of using the recent Milestone School tragedy to politically reorganize.
“We thought fascism had ended. But what we see now is the Awami League exploiting the Milestone incident to regroup and reassert itself,” Abdullah said at a rally in Brahmanbaria on Thursday.
Speaking at a post-march gathering at the Abdul Kuddus Makhon Municipal Open Stage, Abdullah called on all political parties to unite against what he described as the return of fascism under the guise of governance by the Awami League. “In the interest of Bangladesh, all pro-democracy forces must come together to resist them,” he urged.
Earlier in the day, the NCP held a “July March” that started from the Railgate area in the district town and ended at the rally venue. NCP leaders including Convenor Nahid Islam, Member Secretary Akhtar Hossain, Senior Joint Secretary Tasnim Jara, Chief Organizer (North) Sarjis Alam, Chief Coordinator Nasir Uddin Patwari, and others participated in the march.
Criticizing the current state of public safety and health care, Abdullah said, “The previous rulers left us with a broken health system. If you go out on the street, you risk being crushed by a bus. If you go to the hospital, you might die due to lack of treatment. Plane crashes, launch disasters – death awaits at every turn. We want a state that guarantees a natural death, not accidental or preventable ones.”
He also slammed the government’s choice of health ministers. “Our former health minister had a degree in English; the current one holds a degree in Bengali. Why aren’t competent, qualified professionals being appointed? Isn’t there a single capable doctor in this country who could lead our health system?”
Other NCP leaders including Convenor Nahid Hossain, Member Secretary Akhtar Hossain, and Joint Convenor Ashraf Mahdi also addressed the gathering, reiterating demands for systemic reforms and competent governance.