'If Sheikh Hasina returns, she'll go straight from the airport to the gallows'

Nahid Islam, convener of the National Citizen Party (NCP) and Chief Whip of the opposition in the Jatiya Sangsad, has said that if ousted former Prime Minister and Awami League (currently banned) President Sheikh Hasina returns to the country, she must be taken directly from the airport to the gallows—adding that there is no alternative to this.

He made the remarks on Monday afternoon while speaking as the chief guest at a discussion titled "The Voice of Martyrs' Families and the Injured: The People's One-Point Demand," held at the IDB's Muktijoddha Smaran Hall in Kakrail, Dhaka.

Nahid Islam said, "No one will be able to rehabilitate the Awami League and carry out politics in Bangladesh. Mujibism has fallen, and it will not rise again. The true architects of the one-point demand that led to Sheikh Hasina's fall are the martyrs and the injured of July."

Criticizing the ruling BNP, the NCP leader said, "Bureaucratic partisanship, extortion, and corruption are occuring again in the country. The only change in the country has been for those who have gone to London. There was progress in the country over the last two years; even though the current government has been in power for only five months, the impact of Hasina's fall was felt immediately. Instead of development, reforms have been obstructed. The government has done nothing for the July fighters."

He added, "If a new constitution is needed for reforms, that constitution must be made. A referendum must be held, and the July Charter must be implemented. We are working to build a discrimination-free country and bring about change."

At the event, Nahid Islam also demanded a roadmap for the trial of the July massacre as well as other trials.

Speaking as special guests were NCP Member Secretary Akhtar Hossain, the party's Chief Organizer (Northern Region) Sarjis Alam, Chief Organizer (Southern Region) Hasnat Abdullah, Chief Coordinator Nasiruddin Patwary, party spokesperson Asif Mahmud Sojib Bhuiyan, Member Secretary of the National Women's Power Dr. Mahmuda Mitu MP, Rokeya Begum MP (mother of martyr Jaber), and Chief Organizer of National Women's Power Nusrat Tabassum.