3 February 2026
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Tarique Rahman rejected proposal for national government: Nahid Islam

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Banglapress Published: 23 September 2025, 10:25 AM
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Tarique Rahman rejected proposal for national government: Nahid Islam
  Bangla Press Desk: National Citizen Party (NCP) Convener Nahid Islam has claimed that BNP’s acting chairman Tarique Rahman rejected a proposal for the formation of an interim national government and a new constitution during a virtual meeting with leaders of the anti-discrimination student movement on 5 August last year. In a post on his verified Facebook page, Nahid Islam said that Tarique Rahman instead suggested establishing an election-time interim government composed of civil society representatives. This claim directly contradicts a recent statement by BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, who told a media outlet that the idea of a national government was not proposed by students, but rather emerged through other channels. Terming Fakhrul’s statement “untrue”, Nahid Islam clarified that the student leaders had publicly announced their proposal during a press briefing on the night of 5 August, and formally presented it again in the virtual meeting with Tarique Rahman.
According to Nahid’s post, on the early morning of 7 August, a delegation of student representatives visited Fakhrul Islam Alamgir’s residence to further discuss the formation of an interim government and its advisory council. A second virtual meeting was then held with Tarique Rahman to review the names of proposed advisers before any formal step could be taken. In the same post, Nahid also addressed remarks made by Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir leader Sadiq Kaiyum in a television talk show, where Kaiyum claimed that the student platform "Chhatra Shakti" had been guided by Shibir and operated under its instructions. Refuting this claim, Nahid wrote that Chhatra Shakti was formed by members of the “Gurubar Adda” study circle, some former Dhaka University student rights activists, and participants from a Jahangirnagar University-based study circle. He emphasised that while the organisers maintained communication with all student factions on campus — including Shibir — during their eight years of campus activism, this did not imply Shibir’s organisational involvement in Chhatra Shakti. Nahid further said that Sadiq Kaiyum had never held a coordination role in the anti-discrimination student movement. However, due to Shibir's evident participation in the 5 August uprising, Sadiq was allowed to be part of the press briefing. He alleged that Sadiq and his group later launched a campaign claiming that the entire uprising was led by Shibir, and that other groups were merely figureheads — a narrative Nahid strongly rejected as distortion.
The Facebook post also addressed an alleged failed military coup attempt on 2 August, led by Zulkarnain Saer and his associates. Nahid alleged that this group attempted to transfer power to a section of the military and used coercion and threats to pressure student leaders at a so-called “safe house” into making a unilateral Facebook announcement calling for the government's fall — and to sever communication with the broader student movement. He cited writings by activist Rifat to support this claim. Nahid asserted that the anti-discrimination student movement maintained a firm stance from the beginning: that any political transition must be driven by mass participation on the ground, and power must never be handed over to the military or a military-backed group. He warned that such a move would replicate the scenario of the 2007 military-backed caretaker government and pave the way for the return of the ruling Awami League while harming the credibility of the country’s armed forces. Nahid accused the Zulkarnain Saer faction of continuing efforts to weaken the student movement by planting rival leadership figures such as Sadiq Kaiyum and launching systematic campaigns of phone surveillance, disinformation, character assassination, and other tactics. “Such relentless propaganda, even targeting sitting ministers, is unprecedented in our political history,” Nahid wrote, adding, “But falsehood has a short lifespan. Those depending on it will not last.” This article was originally published on Daily Sun.
Bangla Press is a global platform for free thought. It provides impartial news, analysis, and commentary for independent-minded individuals. Our goal is to bring about positive change, which is more important today than ever before.
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[Bangla Press is a global platform for free thought. It provides impartial news, analysis, and commentary for independent-minded individuals. Our goal is to bring about positive change, which is more important today than ever before.]

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