Bangladesh: Division in students-led NCP over alliance with Jamaat for polls

DHAKA: National Citizen Party (NCP) - founded by leaders, mostly students, of the '2024 July Uprising' that led to the Sheikh Hasina govt's collapse - is in the grip of an internal turmoil with 30 members formally opposing its move to ally with Bangladesh's largest Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami (JeI) for the Feb 12 national polls, citing its controversial historical role and "recent divisive activities".

The Islamist party had collaborated with the Pakistan army to commit genocide during the 1971 war and was opposed to Bangladesh's independence. The ban, put on it during Hasina's tenure, was lifted last year after Muhammad Yunus took charge of the interim govt.




The members wrote to NCP convener Nahid Islam after joint convener Tajnuva Jabeen announced her resignation and senior joint member secretary Tasnim Jara stepped down from her post. Sources said many NCP members may move to rival BNP or contest the polls as independent candidates.

In a Facebook post, Tajnuva said she would not contest the upcoming elections as she is objected to NCP's decision to ally with JeI. Tasnim said she will contest as an independent candidate from Dhaka-9.

JeI chief Shafiqur Rahman has announced at a press conference Liberal Democratic Party - headed by former BNP-era minister Col (retd) Oli Ahmed - and Nahid-led NCP had joined the JeI-headed eight-party coalition. Shafiqur said the alliance has nearly finalised its nomination list for all 300 constituencies through talks with the partners. On NCP's absence from the briefing, he said, "The party's leaders were unable to attend due to time constraints. But they have clearly informed us of their decision to join the alliance. They will announce it to the media through a separate press conference," he said.

Tajnuva said many had assumed her objection stemmed from ideological concerns, but she was troubled by the process through which the alliance was formed. She said after inviting nationwide nominations and selecting 125 aspirants, NCP was now finalising a seat-sharing arrangement for about 30 constituencies. Tajnuva added, "I have left NCP, not politics."