Ensure Security or Say so, We’ll Chart Our Own Course, Says Nahid Islam

Opposition Chief Whip and Jatiya Nagorik Party Convener Nahid Islam strongly questioned the country’s law and order situation in Parliament on Thursday following an arson attack on the residence of Member of Parliament Nusrat Tabassum. Speaking on a point of order during the Jatiya Sangsad session, he expressed deep skepticism regarding the government’s security capabilities and demanded a clear explanation.

Detailing the incident, Nahid Islam informed the House that around midnight on Wednesday, miscreants hurled four petrol bombs at Tabassum’s residence in Daulatpur, Kushtia, setting the property ablaze and causing the death of livestock kept on the premises. He voiced strong indignation over the police response, alleging that authorities failed to act effectively and that the local police station’s Officer-in-Charge prematurely claimed no petrol bomb evidence existed before any forensic investigation took place.

Highlighting a broader security crisis, the Opposition Chief Whip pointed to recent acts of nationwide anarchy, sabotage, and cocktail explosions, including incidents on the Dhaka University campus and the attack on student coordinator Hasib Al Islam in Moulvibazar, where no arrests have been made. He criticized the Home Minister for dismissing cocktail explosions and presenting statistics that falsely claimed an improvement in public safety.

Issuing a stern warning to the administration, Nahid Islam asserted that lawmakers, July uprising leaders, and anti-fascist activists face extreme insecurity, stating, ‘If we have no human rights, and if the government is more concerned about the human rights of the enemy, then we will have to find our own way.’ He warned that if fascist forces target them and their families first, government ministers and MPs would be next, while also demanding clarity on the government’s compromising stance regarding the trial of the Awami League and fascist forces.

Following the statement, Jatiya Sangsad Speaker Hafiz Uddin Ahmed treated the matter with utmost seriousness and issued a ruling recognizing the gravity of an attack on an MP’s residence. The Speaker officially drew the attention of the Treasury Bench and the Home Minister, instructing them to take immediate and necessary measures to address the situation.