National Citizen Party (NCP) Convener Nahid Islam on Wednesday vowed a “befitting reply” to the obstruction allegedly created by Mujib loyalists during the party’s rally in Gopalganj.
“We came to Gopalganj with the July March programme to build the country. But we were obstructed. The Mujibists’ obstruction will be given a befitting reply,” Nahid said in a brief address at the municipal park in Gopalganj.
The NCP organised the rally as part of its “July March to Rebuild the Nation” campaign. However, a series of violent attacks and clashes turned the city into a battleground, prompting the government to impose a 22-hour curfew in Gopalganj from 8:00pm on Wednesday.
Nahid said, “If there had been no obstruction today, the people of Gopalganj would have flooded the area. We did not come here to change the name of Gopalganj. We came with a promise of peace and to build a new Bangladesh.”
Referring to last year’s July uprising, he said, “We said, ‘If they (the Hasina government) obstruct, the fight will intensify. We must win that fight.’ The people of Gopalganj have been obstructed again today. And we will win the fight. We will respond.”
“This Gopalganj must not become a refuge for the Mujibists. If the police administration fails to protect you, to protect Gopalganj, and to protect Bangladesh, then it will be our responsibility to do so – just as we did during the mass uprising,” he added.
Nahid asserted that there would be no discrimination in the new Bangladesh. “The Mujibists have undermined the Liberation War and Gopalganj as well. We must quickly investigate who has provided them refuge. If not, we will return again and liberate Gopalganj from the Mujibists with our own hands,” he said.
NCP Member Secretary Akhtar Hossain said the attack would not succeed in silencing the people of Gopalganj. “We are not violent. The people of Bangladesh have given you a chance to repent. Repent and come to stand among the common people,” he urged.
Addressing the people of Gopalganj, NCP’s chief organiser for the southern region, Hasnat Abdullah, stated, “Gopalganj has not yet become part of Bangladesh. The Awami League has deliberately isolated Gopalganj from the rest of the country.”
He added, “We have freed the people of Gopalganj from oppression. We promise to build a just Bangladesh together with you.”
NCP’s northern region chief organiser, Sarjis Alam, wrote in a Facebook post, “If we return alive from here, we will return only after ensuring the fall of Mujibism. Otherwise, we will not return.”
He continued, “The killers, agents of Hasina, attacked us in Gopalganj. The police are standing by, watching the drama, retreating.”