BNP calls for street resistance against AL. Jamaat and NCP ask the ruling party to ‘govern first’

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman wants his party on the streets to confront the Awami League. But his two parliamentary opposition, Jamaat-e-Islami and the National Citizen Party, have a different question: Why should political parties do the work of the police?

The disagreement has exposed a divide between the ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Jamaat-NCP opposition bloc as the country faces renewed political tension ahead of ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina's declared intention to return from India in December.

Awami League activists have staged demonstrations in different parts of Bangladesh, while incidents involving crude bombs, arson and attacks on vehicles have raised concerns over public security.

The government has blamed supporters of the ousted administration for attempts to destabilise the country. Opposition leaders have accused the government of failing to contain the activities and, in some cases, allowing the Awami League political space.

At a meeting of the BNP parliamentary party on Monday, November 9, PM Tarique instructed lawmakers to remain politically active.

"The message is loud and clear. We are on the streets; we must remain on the streets, and it is on the streets that we must confront all plots," he said.

Hasina, who fled to India following the July Revolution, told Reuters in July that she intended to return in December and surrender before a court.

Her lawyers have since sought a new passport and national identity card through the Bangladesh High Commission in New Delhi, adding to speculation about her plans.

The government says any return must be handled through the existing legal framework, including the extradition treaty with India.

Against this backdrop, Daily Waadaa spoke to senior figures from Jamaat and the NCP about their apparent reluctance to join the BNP in a coordinated street response.

They mostly reject the suggestion that they are absent, but they are unwilling to assume responsibility for maintaining public order.

‘We are on the streets. Why wouldn't we be?’

Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar rejected suggestions that his party had retreated from street politics while Awami League activists were mobilising.

"We are on the streets. Why wouldn't we be?" he told Waadaa.

"We were the first to bring out a procession at Dhaka University. Chhatra Shibir activists organised it. Our leaders and activists were also on the streets in different parts of the country."

But Porwar said preventing violence was the government's responsibility.

"The Awami League is carrying out violence across the country. Maintaining law and order is entirely the responsibility of the government and law enforcement agencies. But the government has completely failed."

He went further, alleging that the administration appeared to have reached some form of accommodation with the ousted party.

"The Awami League is carrying out violence across the country, organising processions, killing people, throwing bombs and setting buses on fire. Can they do all this without the government's consent?" he asked.

Porwar said Jamaat would continue its political activities but would not take responsibility for suppressing violence.

"Dealing with these activities is the government's responsibility, not ours. We do not want violence. It is the government's responsibility to bring the situation under control. As the opposition, we are on the streets and will remain there."

Asked whether Jamaat would coordinate with the BNP government, Porwar said the initiative must come from the administration. "The government should approach us. Why should we approach them first?"

He nevertheless left open the possibility of cooperation.

"If the government wants to discuss how to deal with the emerging situation, we will certainly respond to its invitation."

The position broadly reflects that taken by Jamaat Ameer and Opposition Leader Dr Shafiqur Rahman in Parliament on Wednesday.

Shafiqur welcomed Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed's appeal for national unity against attempts to destabilise the country, although the two exchanged accusations over alleged foreign intelligence contacts and the government's handling of political unrest.

The home minister compared the Awami League's flight from power with the collapse of Nazi Germany and declared that the party would never return to politics.

Shafiqur welcomed the call for unity but demanded effective government action rather than repeated assurances.

Jamaat lawmaker questions police inaction

Saiful Alam Khan Milon, a Jamaat lawmaker from Dhaka-12, was more explicit in his criticism of the Home Ministry.

Speaking to Waadaa, he questioned why police appeared unable to prevent Awami League demonstrations when they had previously been able to detect and suppress Jamaat programmes.

"For 17 years, whenever Jamaat activists organised a procession or meeting, whether at dawn, at night or in the afternoon, the police immediately received information and surrounded us from all sides," Milon said.

"Where is that police vigilance today?"

He said Jamaat had organised programmes at Dhaka University, Gulshan and Bhatara, including demonstrations by Chhatra Shibir. Milon also questioned what he described as conflicting messages from government officials.

He cited remarks by government adviser Dr Zahed Ur Rahman suggesting that Awami League members were not necessarily prohibited from holding meetings.

"Does the government want the Awami League to return and organise processions? Is that what the government wants?" he asked.

He also criticised Salahuddin's assessment of recent violence, alleging that the minister had played down the significance of crude bomb explosions at Dhaka University and attacks on abandoned buses.

"It does not appear that the home minister is doing his job," Milon said. "Will law and order improve simply because he stands in Parliament and delivers speeches?"

Milon referred to an incident at the Padma Bridge and questioned the government's preparedness for Awami League programmes.

"The Awami League has announced a programme but what preparations has the government made?"

Milon said the issue was not whether Jamaat had organised enough processions but whether law enforcement agencies were acting on intelligence. He cited the inspector general of police's public message and questioned whether the authorities were taking adequate preventive measures.

He also described attending a Dhaka district law and order meeting at which officials, he said, presented an excessively favourable assessment of the security situation.

"Those same assessments are then presented in Parliament. Things cannot continue this way."

Asked whether political differences between Jamaat and the BNP were discouraging cooperation, Milon pointed to the state's control over the security apparatus.

"We do not control the police. We do not control the Special Branch or the Detective Branch," he said.

"The Special Branch, Detective Branch and Directorate General of Forces Intelligence — to whom do they report? They report to the government."

He noted that the DGFI reported to the prime minister, while Jamaat had no access to the same intelligence information.

"Are you suggesting that we should take to the streets carrying sticks? That is not desirable."

Milon recalled the treatment of Jamaat activists under the previous government, citing a procession in Kalshi during which, he alleged, police shot dead Belal, a local party leader, at point-blank range.

He also said Nurul Islam Bulbul, now president of Jamaat's Dhaka South city unit, had been shot in the leg during a procession and later underwent surgery at a private hospital under security arrangements.

The incidents, he argued, showed how aggressively the police had once acted on intelligence about opposition gatherings.

"Today, the police are doing virtually nothing," he said.

He also questioned why the BNP was not mobilising the supporters it had brought onto the streets on November 7.

"You mobilised so many people on November 7. Why are you not mobilising them now?"

Young politicians accuse BNP of giving Awami League political space

Young leaders directed their criticism at the BNP administration.

Sadik Kayem, a leader of Islami Chhatra Shibir, told Waadaa that the banned Chhatra League and the Awami League were attempting to create instability in different parts of the country.

He accused the Home Ministry and the government of failing to take adequate action. "In several places, the BNP is rehabilitating the Awami League," he alleged.

Kayem cited the reinstatement of the director of Dhaka University's Institute of Business Administration after the election, claiming that the official was accused in a case involving crimes during the 2024 crackdown.

"The prime minister has access to extensive intelligence information," Kayem said. "Yet what we are seeing now is that the Awami League and the BNP have effectively come together in destabilising the country."

He said protecting citizens from violent attacks was the responsibility of the government, not student organisations.

"Is Chhatra Shibir in power? Is Shibir the home minister? Is it the vice-chancellor or the proctor?" He accused the authorities of shifting responsibility to conceal their failures.

Asked whether Shibir would confront Awami League activists politically, Kayem said the existence of an elected government and a functioning administration changed the question.

"An election has taken place. There is an administration, and there is now an elected government." He said the government could not exercise power while avoiding responsibility for public security.

Kayem also called for the home minister's resignation.

"There are now demands that the home minister resign, accepting responsibility for this failure," he said.

Asked again whether his organisation would take political action, he replied: "Are we in power? If they seek our cooperation, we will consider it."

Sarwar Tushar, an NCP leader, offered a similar assessment.He rejected claims that the NCP was inactive.

"That is not true. It is simply not true," Tushar told Waadaa.

"Second, why should we have to be on the streets? Isn't this the government's responsibility?"

He said the government was showing leniency towards the Awami League and questioned the home minister's ability to maintain order.

"He cannot even maintain order in his own constituency. The situation elsewhere hardly needs explaining." Tushar said the NCP had been politically active throughout the day.

But he accused the BNP of using the Awami League's re-emergence to put pressure on opposition parties.

"The government wants to give the Awami League political space in order to put pressure on the opposition," he alleged. "This is a political tactic by the government."

He did not provide evidence of a coordinated government strategy.

A common opponent, but no common street strategy

The disagreements have emerged as the BNP government prepares for further Awami League activity ahead of December.

The government has instructed police to take a tougher position against sabotage, while the BNP is preparing to remain active on the streets throughout December.

The Awami League's political activities have been banned, and the party was excluded from the February 2026 parliamentary election. Yet demonstrations by its supporters and reports of violent incidents have prompted renewed debate about whether the government is enforcing the restrictions effectively.

Tushar said ‘a government minister’ had previously argued that dealing with such activities was the job of law enforcement agencies rather than political parties.

"We do not want to bring back the old political culture," he said.

"We want these matters to be handled by law enforcement agencies. But the government has failed to make those agencies act effectively."

He said the NCP was maintaining the level of street activity it considered necessary.

"The government has not even sought our cooperation. Why should we do the government's job?"

Tushar accused the government of allowing Awami League activists too much freedom, enabling them to organise further activities. "This is a complete failure of the government," he told Waadaa.

"If the government acknowledges its failure, we will consider what to do."

Asked whether the NCP should cooperate with the BNP for its own political survival, particularly if Awami League activists began targeting leaders of the July uprising, Tushar drew a distinction between political resistance and public security.

"We will confront them politically," he said. "But maintaining law and order and ensuring the security of the leaders of the July mass uprising are the government's responsibilities."

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