United News of Bangladesh

Rashed Khan, Political Assistant to the Prime Minister, on Wednesday alleged that National Citizen Party (NCP) Convener Nahid Islam's backing and direct instigation have emboldened the party's chief coordinator, Nasiruddin Patwary, to make uncivil remarks against the Bangladesh Army and the government. “No one in the history of Bangladesh's politics has been as imprudent as this. Nahid must also bear responsibility for Nasiruddin’s insolence,” Rashed said while speaking at a programme organised by the Ex-Forces Association at the Jatiya Press Club. Jamaat's downfall already underway: Rashed Khan Calling on Nasiruddin to apologise to the army, Rashed said the NCP leader had made objectionable remarks about the army chief keeping a beard. “How dare he show such audacity to comment on a country's general in this manner? He keeps making derogatory remarks about the army. He must apologise to the army.” Rashed further alleged that Nasiruddin has been using uncivil language against government ministers. “The language in which Nasiruddin addresses the prime minister and ministers is thoroughly objectionable. This cannot be allowed to continue.” Turning to Nahid Islam, Rashed said the NCP convener now speaks in grandiose terms despite having achieved nothing during his time in the interim government. “He completely failed to implement the Media Reform Commission's recommendations. His successor, another student leader, Mahfuj, also failed in his responsibilities.” Blaming the interim government’s shortcomings on its youth advisers, Rashed alleged that those who took up advisory posts and appointed their own loyalists remained engrossed in lobbying and influence-peddling throughout the 18-month tenure, which he said led to the government's failure. Referring to NCP spokesperson Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuiyan, Rashed claimed Asif himself told him on August 7 that Sarjis Alam, NCP's chief organiser for the northern region, and Hasnat Abdullah, chief organiser for the southern region, had betrayed the ideals of the July uprising. He alleged this was why Asif, who ranked fourth among coordinators, was made an adviser instead of Sarjis and Hasnat, who ranked second and third respectively. Rashed also accused the NCP of distorting the early history of the July mass uprising, saying the movement had grown out of the quota reform protests. He claimed that although the July Charter was meant to acknowledge this, NCP had denied the quota reform movement’s role and thereby distorted history. On Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Rashed alleged the party is conspiring to topple the government instead of cooperating with it. “Even if they manage to bring down the government, they will never be able to run the country. No movement or mass uprising under their leadership will succeed again.” Referring to Liberal Democratic Party Chairman Oli Ahmad, a Jamaat-led alliance partner, Rashed said the veteran politician has fallen into NCP's trap and is now “talking nonsense” in his old age. “Listening to Oli Ahmad, it seems as though he is speaking in Nasiruddin's voice. His association with NCP has caused this decline.” On restoring peace in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Rashed said there is no alternative to the army's presence there, warning that the hill region would again turn unstable if troops were withdrawn. He called on all to move Bangladesh forward under nationalist ideals, saying differences of opinion could remain but there should be no dispute over Bangladesh itself.

Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal on Wednesday paid tribute and offered prayers at Banani Graveyard marking the 57th birth anniversary of Arafat Rahman Koko, younger son of late President Ziaur Rahman and former prime minister Khaleda Zia. Jubo Dal Central General Secretary Mohammad Nurul Islam Nayon, Organising Secretary Kamruzzaman Jewel, Dhaka North City Jubo Dal Convener Sharif Uddin Jewel and Member Secretary Sazzadul Miraj, among others, attended the programme. Arafat Rahman Koko’s 57th birth anniversary today The programme was jointly organised by the Jubo Dal Central Executive Committee and Dhaka North City Jubo Dal. As part of the programme, floral tributes were placed at Koko’s grave at Banani Graveyard, followed by prayers and a munajat seeking forgiveness for his soul. Jubo Dal leaders urged people to pray for the eternal peace of Koko’s soul and recalled his contributions to sports and social activities.

Speculation over the BNP’s presidential nominee will end on Thursday, as its Chairman and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman is scheduled to meet the party’s Standing Committee members to make the final decision, with nomination papers for the presidential election scheduled to be submitted from 10am to 4pm that day. Several BNP leaders said the party’s candidate will be known after the meeting, scheduled for 12 noon, just hours before the nomination deadline expires at 4pm. They, however, indicated that BNP Secretary General and Local Government, Rural Development and Co-operatives Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir is likely to get the ruling party’s nomination for the presidency. The BNP’s formal announcement may come around 12:30pm after the Standing Committee meeting, they said. Earlier on August 10, the BNP Standing Committee entrusted its Chairman Tarique Rahman with the responsibility of nominating the party’s candidate for the presidential election. Since then, speculation has intensified that Mirza Fakhrul would be the BNP nominee for the country’s top constitutional post. A Standing Committee member said, “The name of the person who will be the presidential candidate will be known at the meeting with the chairman on Thursday.” He said the prospective candidate’s signature will be obtained at the meeting and a delegation will then be sent to the Election Commission for submitting the nomination paper along with the signatures of the proposer and seconder. Meanwhile, the 11-party opposition alliance, led by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, has named Liberal Democratic Party Chairman Col (retd) Oli Ahmad as its candidate for the presidential election. Both the ruling and opposition camps have collected nomination papers for their respective aspirants. Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin, who is serving as the returning officer for the presidential election, has already convened a meeting of MPs at the session chamber of the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban on August 20 for voting in accordance with the Presidential Election Act, 1991. According to the election schedule announced by the EC on August 6, nomination papers will be scrutinised on August 16, while the last date for withdrawal of candidature is August 18. Voting will take place from 2pm to 5pm on August 20 at the session chamber of the Jatiya Sangsad. A total of 349 MPs are eligible to vote in the presidential election, with the Chattogram-4 parliamentary seat currently vacant. This will be the first presidential election in 35 years involving more than one candidate, making it the first contested presidential election since the restoration of the parliamentary system in 1991. On July 24, Mohammed Shahabuddin resigned as President, following which Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmad assumed charge as acting President. Under Article 123(2) of the Constitution, an election to fill a vacant presidential office must be held within 90 days of the post becoming vacant due to resignation.

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Wednesday described the circumstances surrounding the death of Arafat Rahman Koko as “extremely heartbreaking and tragic,” saying he could recall no greater tragedy than a mother having to hold the body of her son and calling it an expression of political revenge. He made the remarks after offering Fateha and placing floral wreaths at the grave Koko, younger son of BNP founder and late president Ziaur Rahman and former prime minister Khaleda Zia, at Banani graveyard in the morning, marking Koko’s 57th birth anniversary.  Rizvi said he died in an extremely difficult environment and at a time when the country was witnessing “ultimate manifestation of fascism.” “Koko could no longer cope with the situation. He was suffering from heart disease and was sick. In that situation he died of cardiac arrest,” Rizvi said. Referring to Khaleda Zia’s confinement when Koko’s body was brought back to Bangladesh, Rizvi said she was being kept under blockade with trucks loaded with sand and timber. “She had an injury to her eye and had undergone an eye operation. At that very moment, pepper spray was used to make her even more sick while she was being kept confined. And at that very moment, the body of her son was placed in her lap,” he said. “I cannot recall any tragic event in the world comparable to this. This tragedy surpassed all other tragedies, the body of a son in his mother’s lap. It was an expression of revenge,” Rizvi said. He accused ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina of using every possible means to harass Zia family and erase its presence and popularity among people. “She tarnished their image, spread propaganda and lies, not a single one of which she could prove,” he said. Rizvi said Hasina had done so to serve her desire for absolute dominance and to remain in power. “There was nothing Sheikh Hasina did not do to destroy this family of the Liberation War,” he said. Rizvi claimed Hasina’s family had no contribution to the Liberation War and said her father and she herself had stayed under the patronage and protection of the Pakistani ruling authorities. “Why this revenge? Because Ziaur Rahman declared independence? Because his wife and two sons remained imprisoned because of that declaration of independence?” he asked. Arafat Rahman Koko’s 57th birth anniversary today He said Hasina could never tolerate Ziaur Rahman’s patriotism and popularity among people and therefore subjected his family to repeated suffering. Rizvi said Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, Ziaur Rahman and Khaleda Zia’s elder son, had also been subjected to physical torture and later went to London for treatment. “What has happened today? Sheikh Hasina had to flee after being chased by people. Today that Tarique Rahman is the Prime Minister. He is an extremely popular Prime Minister,” Rizvi said. Highlighting Koko’s role as a sports organiser, Rizvi said Koko had worked for the development of sports and wanted the state and government to create opportunities for those who would make sports their profession and livelihood. State Minister for Youth and Sports and Dhaka North City BNP convener Aminul Haque, Dhaka North City BNP member secretary Mostafa Zaman, joint convener and MP SM Jahangir, Dhaka North City BNP member Rezaur Karim Fahim, and Bangladesh Cricket Board director Israfil Khasru, among others, were present.

Arafat Rahman Koko, youngest son of BNP founder former President Ziaur Rahman and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia, is being remembered on his 57th birth anniversary on Wednesday. Born on August 12, 1969, Koko died of a heart attack in Malaysia on January 24, 2015. To mark his birth anniversary, Dhaka North City BNP organised a visit to his grave at Banani Graveyard and paid floral tributes. BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi was present. A discussion was also organised at the BNP central office in Nayapaltan in his memory. Koko was associated with the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) from 2002 to 2005. During that period, he worked to keep cricket free from political influence and contributed to the development of various areas of the country’s sports sector. His contributions as a sports organiser continue to be remembered in Bangladesh’s sporting community. Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Swechhasebak Dal also organised a prayer and munajat at Banani graveyard. Central President SM Jilani, General Secretary and State Minister Rajib Ahsan, Organising Secretary Nazmul Hasan, and leaders and activists from the central and various levels of the organisation were present.

BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Tuesday accused Jamaat-e-Islami of repeatedly maintaining secret alliances with “monstrous forces” and warned that attempts to belittle the 1971 Liberation War would not be tolerated. “You have always played hide-and-seek. You have always made alliances with monstrous forces,” Rizvi said while addressing a protest procession organised by Muktijoddha Dal and Muktijoddha Projonmo Dal in protest against what they described as Jamaat’s “arrogant statements and activities” aimed at destabilising Bangladesh. The procession began at the auditorium of Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) and ended in front of BNP's Nayapaltan office, with Rizvi attending it as the chief guest. Rizvi said the country’s freedom enabled its people to speak freely, establish Bangla as the state language and identify themselves as Bangladeshis.“This is the achievement of 1971, the achievement of the war,” he said. Rizvi accused those who opposed the country’s independence of trying to tarnish and underestimate the history of the Liberation War. He alleged that those groups had informed the Pakistani occupation forces about the hideouts of freedom fighters who were conducting guerrilla warfare during the Liberation War. “They have no history of heroism; they only have a history of collaboration,” Rizvi said, alleging that they continued their opportunistic and collaborative politics even after independence. He accused Jamaat of repeatedly seeking favour from the Awami League, which he described as a “fascist, authoritarian one-party regime.” Rizvi said Jamaat had formed an alliance with the Awami League and participated in the 1986 election, and later joined the election under HM Ershad. Jamaat remained “underground and dormant” for 17 years and later participated in the 2008 election, which he described as a “staged election,” while pressuring BNP to participate. “The consequences were not good for them, but even now they are trying to gain favour,” he said. Referring to a statement by a Jamaat leader after August 5 that “all Awami League members would be forgiven”, Rizvi questioned whether the sacrifices of those killed during the July uprising would then become meaningless. Rizvi also criticised Jamaat’s reported position on developing relations with a neighbouring country, alleging that the country kills Bangladeshis along the border, holds back river water and conducts anti-Bangladesh propaganda. Referring to an exhibition organised around the official residence of Jamaat chief and Opposition Leader Dr Shafiqur Rahman, Rizvi alleged that the exhibition covered events from 1971 to the July uprising but did not contain any photograph of Ziaur Rahman, whom he described as the country’s “greatest freedom fighter” and the “proclaimer of independence.” Rizvi said 1971 was a source of immense pride for the people of Bangladesh and that his generation was the successor to the “bright and burning aspiration for independence” of that period. He said the July uprising was also rooted in the spirit of 1971. “When rights were curtailed again and the fascists took away the right to speak, July created a great revolution through a mass uprising,” he said. “You cannot belittle or underestimate 1971. That will not happen. The path of 1971 led to 1990, and the path of 1971 led to July,” he said. Explaining the strength of that legacy, Rizvi said Bangladeshis demonstrated during the Liberation War that ordinary people could take up rifles and fight, while freedom fighters could swim across rivers carrying Sten guns to attack enemy camps. “That is our history, that is our heritage, and that is our proud asset. Today’s generation is the successor to that legacy. They created July,” he said. Rizvi warned that attempts to strategically portray one historic event as bigger or smaller than another would not succeed. “This nation became independent, and it also knows how to protect its independence. Twenty crore people of this country are always ready to defend our independence,” he said.

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Monday congratulated Md Sadman Shihab, son of Khaled Hasan Sohel, a former Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) leader who became victim of enforced disappearance in 2013. Shihab passed this year’s SSC examination, prompting the Prime Minister to extend his congratulations and best wishes to him. Following the publication of the SSC results in the morning, Tarique Rahman instructed his Additional Press Secretary Atikur Rahman Rumon to deliver a congratulatory gift to Shihab. Later, a delegation, led by Krishibid Moksedul Momin Mithun, member secretary of “Amra BNP Poribar”, visited Shihab’s home in the Banglabazar area of Old Dhaka. The delegation handed over flowers, sweet and storybooks to Shihab on behalf of the Prime Minister and wished him a bright future. Among others, “Amra BNP Poribar” members Masud Rana Liton and Mustakim Billah, JCD leader Abdullah Al Misbah and Farzana Rimi, vice-president of Uttaranchal Chhatra Forum, were present. Sohel, a JCD leader of Sutrapur thana unit, was picked up allegedly by plain-clothes men from the Old Central Jail area in the capital on November 28, 2013. His whereabouts have remained unknown since then.

Prime Minister’s Political Adviser Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Monday said strengthening democracy requires not only the independent functioning of democratic institutions but also a change in the mindset of political parties, their leaders and activists. “Democratic institutions must be allowed to function independently, but at the same time, the mindset of political parties and their leaders and activists must change,” he said. Rizvi questions how Hasina presser was allowed to go ahead Rizvi, also BNP senior joint secretary general, made the remarks while speaking as the chief guest at a discussion titled “Election Violence Monitoring Report: Bangladesh Parliamentary Election and Referendum 2026”, organised by human rights organisation Odhikar at the CIRDAP auditorium in the capital. He said people want democratic institutions to be strengthened, the judiciary to function independently, the media to operate freely and the Election Commission to perform its duties independently. “Democracy is not merely a subject of political science or history. It is not even a matter of logic. It is a matter of psychology. If your mindset is not right, you cannot achieve anything,” the BNP leader said. He said it is natural in a democracy for the opposition to sharply and critically scrutinise the government. “There is no objection to that. But the criticism must be constructive, mutually beneficial and forward-looking. Only then will the journey of democracy become smooth and democracy develop in the state,” he said. “One hand cannot clap. Both the government and the opposition have roles to play. If you talk about only one side, a democratic environment cannot be created,” Rizvi said. He urged political leaders to remain cautious about their language, choice of words and the way they frame their sentences so that a violent mindset does not develop among their followers. The BNP leader said regardless of how many laws are enacted to strengthen democracy, it cannot be effectively established unless people’s mindsets change. Referring to the July 2024 mass uprising, he said had the movement failed, no one would have been spared. Rizvi said since August 5, 2024, action has been taken against around 1,500-2,000 leaders and activists of BNP and its affiliated organisations on various charges.

Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) on Monday congratulated students who passed this year’s Secondary School Certificate (SSC) and equivalent examinations, wishing them success in their future endeavours. It also expressed sympathy and best wishes for the future to those who could not achieve their desired results, according to a press release issued by JCD Office Secretary Md Jahangir Alam. The results of this year’s SSC and equivalent examinations were published earlier in the morning, showing an average pass rate of 62.25 percent. Describing the young generation as the future of the country, the JCD urged students to pursue quality education and dedicate themselves to the welfare of the country and its people. It also called on young people to remain politically conscious and play an active role in safeguarding democracy, independence and sovereignty. The organisation expressed hope that the younger generation will collectively resist any domestic or hegemonic conspiracy against the country and help establish Bangladesh in a dignified position before the world through their merit, competence and patriotism.

A high-level BNP delegation held a meeting with a delegation of the Washington-based International Republican Institute (IRI) on Sunday to discuss Bangladesh’s democratic progress and future cooperation. The meeting was held at the BNP’s Gulshan office in the capital. The discussions focused on IRI’s ongoing activities and future plans aimed at further consolidating and strengthening Bangladesh’s democratic journey. The participants exchanged views on ways to advance the country’s democratic process, strengthen democratic institutions and ensure greater public participation. They also discussed potential areas of future cooperation, experience-sharing and joint initiatives in various fields of democratic development. Representing BNP at the meeting were Prime Minister's Adviser Md Ismail Zabiullah, Prime Minister's Adviser Dr. Mahdi Amin, Chairperson of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Barrister Jahrat Adib Chowdhury, and Mahmuda Habiba. The IRI delegation comprised John Fluharty, Resident Program Director; Sonja Gloekle, Senior Director, Center for Insights in Survey Research; Rukhsana Haque, Technical Adviser; and Amitabh Ghosh, Technical Adviser.