Nahid Islam says the perpetrators deliberately weaponised the slogans of the July Uprising and the death of youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi to create a facade of legitimacy for their actions
Nahid Islam, convener of the newly formed National Citizen Party, which is led by students who were at the forefront of last year’s protests that ousted Sheikh Hasina, poses for a photo in Dhaka on 5 March 2025. Reuters/Mohammad Ponir Hossain
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Nahid Islam, convener of the newly formed National Citizen Party, which is led by students who were at the forefront of last year’s protests that ousted Sheikh Hasina, poses for a photo in Dhaka on 5 March 2025. Reuters/Mohammad Ponir Hossain
National Citizen Party (NCP) Convener Nahid Islam today (22 December) alleged that a “section of the government,” coupled with long-term social engineering and political backing, was behind the recent mob attacks on The Daily Star and Prothom Alo offices.
Speaking at a joint protest organised by the Editors’ Council and the Newspaper Owners’ Association of Bangladesh (Noab) at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Dhaka, the former ICT adviser described the violence as a “planned crime” rather than a spontaneous outburst of public anger.
“This entire situation is deeply unfortunate for all of us,” Nahid said, reflecting on the state of the country following the July Uprising. “The Bangladesh we expected after the uprising… we are not moving in that direction.”
Manufactured ‘mobocracy’
Nahid said the perpetrators deliberately weaponised the slogans of the July Uprising and the death of youth leader Sharif Osman Hadi to create a facade of legitimacy for their actions.
He pointed out that the scale and coordination of the attacks suggested a high-level conspiracy.
“We believe a section of the [interim] government is involved in this issue. Consensus for such an attack had been built within society for a long time, and it had political backup. Without these three factors — government involvement, social consent, and political backing — such a daring act on that night would not have been possible,” he remarked.
The NCP convener, who previously served in the interim cabinet, admitted his former distaste for the term “mob violence,” noting it has been often used by the fallen Awami League regime to discredit the July Uprising.
However, he stated that the current landscape has shifted into a “planned conspiracy” aimed at steering the nation’s politics and upcoming elections toward a specific agenda.
Failure of civic resistance
Nahid also expressed a sense of “helplessness” regarding the response to the 18 December midnight violence.
He lamented the fact that while law enforcement failed to act, there were not even 500 citizens in a city of millions willing to stand before the newspaper buildings to form a barricade.
The Bangladesh we expected after the uprising… we are not moving in that direction
Nahid Islam, convener, National Citizen Party
“It is unfortunate that we could not respond immediately. When the police do not work, we should try our best as responsible citizens, but that night, we felt powerless,” he said.
Nahid called on the interim government to ensure a fair investigation into both the attacks on the media houses and the killing of Sharif Osman Hadi.
He emphasised that the “mobocracy” currently being allowed to target institutions must be suppressed to protect the rule of law.
“We will not allow anything like this in the name of the July Uprising. Media houses or any institutions must not be attacked. We must take a stand against those who disrupt the rule of law under any pretext.”