“If reforms are reversed, preparations for another uprising will begin”: Hasnat Abdullah

Hasnat Abdullah, member of parliament from the Cumilla-4 constituency representing an 11-party electoral alliance, has stated that if those in power retreat from reforms while asserting majority dominance, preparations for another uprising similar to that of 2024 will inevitably begin at some point.

Hasnat spoke about the country’s current political situation, the independence of the judiciary and the Human Rights Commission, and the necessity of state reform.

As chief organiser of the southern region of the National Citizen Party (NCP), Hasnat Abdullah emphasised that the 2024 mass uprising was not intended to bring about a change in individuals, but rather a fundamental transformation of the state structure.

He further stated, “If the previous system remains intact, then any individual could eventually become another Hasina. Hasina is not merely a person, but a collection of numerous fascist ideas.”

He made these remarks today, Monday, at a citizen dialogue held at the BDBL Building in Karwan Bazar, Dhaka. Voice for Reform organised the dialogue under the theme: “Repeal of the ordinance on judicial independence and suspension of the ordinance on the prevention and remedy of enforced disappearances: A Threat to good governance and human rights progress.”

Hasnat warned that without structural reform of the state, the nation would once again move towards darkness.

Referring to the suffering of families of victims of enforced disappearances, he said that people had aspired to a state where no one would be taken from their home and made to vanish.

Criticising the placement of the Human Rights Commission under ministerial or governmental control, Hasnat stated that if the ordinance governing the Commission is not properly implemented, investigative authority would revert to the Ministry of Home Affairs under the 2009 law.

As a result, investigations into incidents such as police killings during the July uprising would remain in the hands of the police themselves, which he described as contrary to justice.

At the dialogue, moderated by Fahim Mashrur, founder and organiser of Voice for Reform, lawyer and human rights activist Manzur Al Matin also spoke.

Manzur Al Matin stated that while the ordinance concerning the removal of elected representatives had been adopted swiftly, the law ensuring judicial independence had become stalled in bureaucratic complications.

He urged the government to act without delay to ensure judicial independence in order to uphold public expectations and the mandate to end enforced disappearances.

Others who addressed the dialogue included political scientist Dilara Chowdhury, photographer Shahidul Alam, Secretary General of the State Reform Movement Syed Hasibuddin Hossain and Chairman of Amar Bangladesh Party (AB Party) Mojibur Rahman, among others.