Surrendering to those obstructing reform is like walking backwards: Mahfuj Alam

In an oblique reference to the alliance that National Citizen Party (NCP) has joined, former information and broadcasting adviser Mahfuj Alam today criticised the party’s decision to forge an alliance with a religion-based political group for the upcoming national election, describing it as a “wrong attempt.”

Speaking at a discussion titled “Reconstructing the State and the Relevance of Referendum” organised by Rashtrakalpa Library at the TSC auditorium of Dhaka University, Mahfuj said, “The party which carried the aspiration and the dream of people (during the post-July uprising period) has taken a wrong turn…for this I am no longer affiliated with them.”

Expressing his frustration, Mahfuj said, “We did not form Gonotantrik Chhatra Shakti, NCP, or the National Citizen Committee, nor did we provide them political support for this purpose (alliance).”

“Surrendering to those political parties who have obstructed reform and judicial processes at every step, used various investigation committees as their political bargaining tools, I believe, is like walking backward like a ghost in the history of Bangladesh. Just as ghosts are said to walk with backward-turned feet, we, too, are now moving backward,” the former adviser added.

Mahfuj recalled that before the July uprising, they had organised study circles such as “Rashtrakalpa” and “Gurubar Adda”, and published magazines like “Cine Jog” to politically educate a new generation.

They had no aspirations to either create an alliance or support a religious political party, he added.

Mahfuj said he had hoped the group would work for the underprivileged, restructure the country’s power and assets, reform the civil-military bureaucracy, and break the cultural hegemony of civil society.

He explained that their support was intended to establish a “third force” in national politics, representing people who sought alternatives beyond the old settlement.