‘Don’t sell your dream for a seat’, whom does Nasiruddin refer to?
A Facebook post by Nasiruddin Patwari, chief coordinator of the National Citizen Party (NCP) and head of the party’s central election steering committee, has sparked widespread discussion on social media.
Many are curious about whom he was referring to in the post.
Nasiruddin Patwari wrote on his verified Facebook page, “Do not sell your dream and flag in exchange for a seat.”
The post sparked widespread discussion right after.
In response, former coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement Abdul Kader wrote in a Facebook post on Tuesday morning, “Leaders of a certain party shout slogans during the day and make loose comments about the BNP, but at night they go knocking on the doors of BNP leaders! The so-called uncompromising leader who blusters in the media, along with his imam, has held three meetings in the past fifteen days at BNP leader Salahuddin’s residence seeking twenty seats, and has so far gone once to Mirza Fakhrul Islam’s house to plead for support.”
As parties prepare for the February elections and discussions on forming alliances are underway, the posts by these two, who were at the forefront of the July uprising, appear to be addressed towards their former comrades.
While Nasiruddin Patwari ended his post in a single sentence, Abdul Kader offered a lengthy comment.
He wrote, “The so-called uncompromising leader is giving such contradictory statements as a tactic for better negotiation on seat-sharing. Boasting about his own satisfaction, he keeps sharing it. Yet, what was the scene after the mass uprising! The old political parties should approach the youth, and the youth should occupy the driving seats. But the very imams go and sit there for twenty seats! As a seat-sharing strategy, they bluster in the media, then sit in the houses, yet don’t get what they want! Ha ha ha…”
Referring to those comrades from the streets of July, Kader added, “On one hand, they blackmail while saying ‘friend, friend’; on the other, they subtract. They have centralised the party within a small circle of people. Their attitude is such that if their own seat and the desired seat are secured, it does not matter if the so-called uncompromising leaders are sold out. But if anyone who has fallen victim to subtraction or poor politics tries to make an independent political decision, they will be accused of selling their dreams. I will not share the list of the twenty seats that have been demanded. Seeing the party’s centralised power, the politics of subtraction, and the poor state of quorum, even the rest of the party members will be awakened.”
Former joint convenor of the NCP, Anik Roy, has reacted to the two posts by Nasiruddin Patwari and Abdul Kader. Late at night, tagging Nasiruddin Patwari in a Facebook post, he wrote, “There is no hesitation or fear in directly naming and criticising the opposition—yet he (Nasiruddin Patwari) did not name which friend gave up their bright red dream for a single seat.
He hinted at someone only through gestures, as he knows. Still, in Nasir’s single status, both his close and outside friends are under pressure. Everyone is responding in their own way. The enjoyment lies in being able to watch the matter unfold as a spectator.”
On Tuesday morning, Anik Roy shared Abdul Kader’s post on Facebook, captioning it: “So, revolution by day and negotiation by night???”
Some Facebook users have suggested that Nasiruddin Patwari’s status refers to Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuyain, former coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement and currently an adviser to the caretaker government.
Last Sunday, Asif Mahmud applied to become a voter in the Dhaka-10 parliamentary constituency. He later told reporters that he will be a candidate in the next national parliamentary election, and it is almost certain that he will contest from Dhaka.
Although his fellow organisers from the July movement went on to form the NCP and are on verge of launching their election campaigns, Asif Mahmud has not confirmed whether he will join the party. In response to questions from journalists, he said his current plan is to contest as an independent candidate — “let’s see what happens after that.”
The Dhaka-10 constituency is among those where the BNP has yet to announce a candidate. However, Asif Mahmud said he has not held any discussions with the BNP regarding this.
Meanwhile, NCP’s chief organiser for the southern region, Hasnat Abdullah, rejected the possibility of forming an electoral alliance with the BNP during a party meeting in Chandpur yesterday, saying, “Many of them have already fattened their backs and waists with extortion money; they have spread fear across neighbourhoods under the pressure of case trading... Those who have turned extortion into a thriving business in every area — it’s better to die than to enter an election alliance with them.”