The Jatiya Nagorik Party (NCP) Convener Nahid Islam has alleged that several advisers of the government are preparing for a “safe exit” after securing their personal interests.
In an interview with a private television channel, Nahid said, “Trusting many members of the advisory council was a major mistake. Some have developed ties with various political parties and are now seeking safe exits. Many have either secured their own interests or betrayed the spirit of the people’s uprising. When the time comes, we will make their names public.”
He further said, “It was our mistake to put faith in many of the advisers. We should have strengthened student leadership instead and taken collective responsibility if we entered the government. The trust we placed in civil society and political parties has, in fact, deceived us.”
When asked whether appointing student leaders as advisers was a mistake, Nahid replied, “None of us wanted to be advisers. We had called for the formation of a national government. If that had happened, students wouldn’t have had to shoulder this responsibility. Had the power of the uprising not been within the government, it wouldn’t have lasted three months.”
The former adviser of the interim government added that attempts to overthrow the current administration were active during its first six months and still persist to some extent. “If the political parties had agreed to form a national government, the burden wouldn’t have fallen on the students. We took this responsibility out of necessity,” he said.
Nahid also remarked, “It was the politicians—not the students—who bowed in the cantonment on August 5.”
He expressed regret that the government was not formed as a national unity government including representatives from civil society, saying that would have prevented much of today’s discontent.
