Professor Dilara Chowdhury on Monday demanded the resignation of Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed, accusing him of failing to maintain law and order as speakers at a Dhaka protest sharply criticised the government over the demolition of Radda healthcare facility and the vandalism of content creator Salman Muqtadir’s studio.
“This is not about being part-time. We simply do not want him. He must resign because he has failed as home minister,” Dilara said.
“As a teacher, I would respectfully say that he has failed with flying colours.”
She was speaking at a human chain organised by Mancha 24 in front of the National Museum at around 5:00pm. The programme protested the attack on Salman’s BrownFish Studio at ECB Chattar, the demolition of the Radda MCH-FP Centre in Mirpur and what organisers described as a worsening law-and-order situation and rising incidents of rape.
Dilara linked the demolition of the Radda facility to the continuing measles outbreak, saying a healthcare centre providing vaccination and maternal and child services had been destroyed at a time when the country was facing a public-health crisis.
She accused the government of failing to respond adequately to measles deaths and argued that the outbreak should be treated as an emergency.
Turning to the controversy surrounding Salman’s studio, Dilara questioned the government's response to the incident after authorities said the attack arose from a land dispute rather than extortion.
“If there is a land dispute, there are courts. Go there and establish who owns the land,” she said. “Instead, you came and demolished the place and then entered into an argument with him.”
Dilara said a dispute over ownership could not justify forcibly taking possession of property.
“Now you are saying it is land grabbing. So, is land grabbing acceptable in Bangladesh?” she asked. “Is that the message you want to send — that extortion will now be replaced by land grabbing?”
Entrepreneur Fahim Mashroor also challenged the distinction between extortion and land grabbing that has emerged since the attack on Salman’s studio.
“Let us assume that the home minister is right. Does that mean that while extortion is unacceptable in Bangladesh, grabbing property is acceptable?” Fahim said.
He argued that Salman’s initial allegation of extortion had to be viewed in the context in which it was made — immediately after his studio had been attacked and extensively vandalised.
“A person is watching an institution they built being destroyed. In that situation, they might very well call it extortion,” he said.
Fahim also criticised what he described as attempts to turn Salman into an adversary of the government following his Facebook Live broadcast.
“A government is a very big entity,” he said. “If you want rivals, make them rivals like Argentina and Brazil. You do not turn some guy from the neighbourhood into your rival.”
He said the existence of litigation or competing claims over a property did not give either side the authority to seize it by force.
“There are thousands, hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions of plots of land in Bangladesh that are subject to some kind of case or dispute,” Fahim said.
“If everyone now takes it upon themselves to gather 100 or 200 people and start occupying disputed land, will you be able to govern the country, honourable home minister?”
Fahim also criticised commentators who, he said, had suggested Salman should face enormous defamation claims over his allegations against the government.
He responded sarcastically that if everyone accusing the ruling BNP of extortion were sued for billions of dollars, the government could finance public expenditure from defamation compensation instead of taxes.
Dilara broadened her criticism to the overall law-and-order situation, pointing to violence against women and children, political violence, mob attacks and sexual harassment.
She argued that maintaining public security — rather than engaging primarily in constitutional debates — should be the home minister’s immediate responsibility.
“Your job is to maintain law and order in the country,” she said. “You are unable to do your job. Leave. Resign. Instead, take charge of the Law Ministry and work on the Constitution.”
Dilara said the basic purpose of a state was to protect “life, property and liberty,” arguing that the expectations created by the July 2024 uprising included an end to political protection for violence and abuse.
She also called on Prime Minister Tarique Rahman to take direct responsibility for ensuring security.
“You have assumed responsibility for the country,” she said. “It is your duty and responsibility to ensure the welfare and security of its people — their lives, their liberty and their rights.”
AB Party leader Fuad Abdullah, another speaker at the protest, focused his criticism on promises made during the interim government's tenure.
He said BNP leaders had repeatedly argued before the election that an elected government would be better equipped to address law and order, extortion, corruption and other problems.
Fuad mocked that argument through a series of examples, repeatedly invoking the phrase: “Hold the election, and it will be fixed.”
He said the problems had persisted after the government took office.
During the interim government, Fuad said, BNP leaders argued that their ability to act against alleged extortionists and violent party members was limited because they were not in government.
He alleged that some people expelled from the party before the election were subsequently taken back and questioned whether those accused of criminal conduct had faced sufficient accountability after the change of government.
Fuad said the government itself was not necessarily responsible for every murder, rape or criminal incident.
But, he added, responsibility for investigating those crimes, finding the perpetrators and bringing them to justice rested with the government.
“Who is involved in these murders, corruption and misrule? Who is involved in rape and violence against women? Bring them to justice — whether they belong to your party or are outside it,” he said.
Fuad also said the protesters were not demanding the government's removal.
“None of us is demanding that you be overthrown. None of us is demanding your fall or saying you must leave power,” he said.
Instead, he said, civil society and political groups wanted the government to honour its political commitments and address failures being pointed out publicly.
He urged the prime minister to examine whether ministers and MPs were helping the government address public grievances or becoming part of the problem.
“We want you to succeed. We want your party to succeed. We want the state of Bangladesh to succeed,” Fuad said.
“We have no desire to forcibly remove you from power.”
Fahim, meanwhile, said both the home and health ministers should have resigned after the Radda facility was demolished, arguing that destroying a vaccination centre amid a health crisis demanded political accountability.
He also warned against attempts to discredit Salman over his initial description of the studio attack.
The government should not treat an individual content creator as a political adversary, Fahim argued, and should instead address the underlying questions raised by the attack.
Dilara ended with an appeal to journalists to scrutinise the government rather than defend it.
She described the media as the “fourth pillar” and urged journalists to report actions that harm the public without regard to political considerations.
“You must uphold that pillar,” she said.
“When it comes to the government’s misdeeds, or actions that go against the people and cause them harm, you must firmly bring the truth before the public.”
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