Public Waiting to See When Home Minister Will Resign: Nahid Islam

National Citizen Party (NCP) convener and opposition Chief Whip Md Nahid Islam has said the public is waiting to see when the home minister will resign, accusing him of complete failure to maintain law and order.
“The state minister for liberation war affairs has been made to resign. But the home minister, who bears primary responsibility for law and order, is not being held accountable in any way. The people of the country are waiting to see when the home minister will resign because he has completely failed,” he said.
Mr. Nahid made the remarks while visiting the Shri Shri Purba Badda Nimtala Kali Temple on Monday on the occasion of Durga Puja, the major religious festival of the Hindu community.
He said the home minister was not carrying out his responsibilities and was instead preoccupied with the Constitution. If Ishraq Hossain had committed a criminal offence, law enforcement agencies should take action in accordance with the law, he said.

Mr. Nahid also referred to the resignation of Misti, saying the person had not yet been arrested. He alleged that the country was being run according to the wishes, preferences, requests or directives of a single individual. “This is neither an example of democracy nor of the rule of law,” he said.
On the constitutional amendment committee, Mr. Nahid alleged that the government was continuing to stage a farce in the name of the committee. He claimed that people had rejected it and accused the committee of holding meetings with establishment-friendly intellectuals. He further alleged that the committee was being used to have individuals associated with the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) speak against reforms previously accepted by the party, calling the process a mockery of the public.

Expressing deep concern over the current situation, Mr. Nahid said the home minister had so far failed to curb drug trafficking even in his own area, while Ishraq Hossain had become a casualty in connection with the issue. He reiterated that the home minister must be held properly accountable. If Ishraq had committed any criminal offence, he said, law enforcement agencies should act against him in accordance with the law.
Accusing the government of making a mockery of the July Charter, the referendum and its reform initiatives, Mr. Nahid said institutional reforms and constitutional changes through a Constituent Reform Council were supposed to establish the rule of law and implement the referendum verdict in line with the July Charter.
Instead, he alleged, the current government had effectively betrayed the July uprising. Describing the formation of the constitutional amendment committee as a “farce and drama” and a betrayal of those who were martyred, he said responsibility for this betrayal rested with the head of government.

Referring to more than six months of discussions between political parties under the Consensus Commission, the NCP convener said an agreement had been reached on various issues and those decisions were supposed to be implemented after the election. However, he claimed, there was now no scope for such discussions.
He said the plan had been to establish a Constituent Reform Council, rather than amend the Constitution through a constitutional amendment committee.

Mr. Nahid also said drug abuse and trafficking had spread alarmingly across the country. He stressed that action should not be limited to drug users; the main dealers must also be brought to justice.
Citing various accounts, including information from a senior parliamentary leader, he alleged that major drug trafficking operations originated in Cox’s Bazar and the home minister’s own area. He said the minister must be held accountable if he had failed to make even his own area free of drugs.
During the visit, NCP spokesperson Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan, a mayoral candidate for Dhaka North City Corporation, and other central and metropolitan leaders were present.