DHAKA: An internal rift overnight gripped the student-led National Citizen Party (NCP) over its proposed alliance with the Jamaat-e-Islami ahead of the Bangladesh election in February, with 30 of its leaders issuing a joint letter opposing the plan and two ranking members announcing their resignation.
The NCP, a large offshoot of the Students Against Discrimination (SAD) that spearheaded last year's violent movement, dubbed the July Uprising, which toppled then-prime minister Sheikh Hasina's Awami League government, emerged as a political party with interim government chief Muhammad Yunus' blessings in February.
The first signatory to the memorandum and the NCP's joint member-secretary, Mushfiq Us Saleheen, told reporters on Saturday night that the memo titled “Principled objections to a potential alliance in light of the accountability of the July Uprising and party values” had been sent to party convenor Nahid Islam.
The memorandum expressed concerns over the NCP’s proposed alliance with the Jamaat, stating that it conflicted with the party’s declared ideology and stance on the July Uprising and democratic ethics.
It also pointed to the Jamaat’s controversial political history, particularly its role against Bangladesh’s independence and alleged collaboration in genocide and crimes during the 1971 Liberation War, describing these as fundamentally incompatible with Bangladesh’s democratic spirit and the NCP’s core values.
The memo further alleged that the Jamaat’s student wing, Chhatra Shibir, had in the recent past infiltrated and sabotaged other parties to blame the NCP for various incidents and spread misinformation and propaganda.
Warning of political fallout, the memorandum said an alliance with the Jamaat would undermine the NCP’s credibility and public trust, creating confusion and disappointment among activists and supporters, especially the younger generation and ordinary citizens backing new politics.
The memorandum was made public after NCP senior joint member-secretary Tasnim Jara resigned from her position on Saturday evening and announced she would contest the upcoming parliamentary election as an independent candidate from a constituency in Dhaka.
In a Facebook post, Jara, a doctor, said, “Due to the current political realities, I have decided not to contest the election as a candidate of any specific party or alliance.” She did not specify whether her resignation was linked to the planned alliance, though newspaper reports said her husband and NCP joint convenor Khaled Saifullah had also quit the organisation.
Hours later, NCP joint convenor Tajnuva Jabeen, also a doctor, announced her resignation in a Facebook post, describing the alliance formation as “a political strategy carefully engineered and brought to this point.” She said that despite being a founding member, she was quitting the party with mental agony, as she no longer had any “honourable option”.
The Ittefaq newspaper reported on Saturday that most female NCP leaders, including senior joint convenor Samata Sharmin, senior member-secretary Nahid Sarwar Niva, joint convenor Taznuva Jabin and joint member-secretary Nusrat Tabassum, were opposed to an alliance with the Jamaat or any religion-based party and had conveyed their reservations to the leadership. Most signatories to the memo, however, were male members.
The NCP has yet to make any formal announcement on the alliance, but The Daily Star reported that the party was likely to finalise a seat-sharing deal with the Jamaat within the next one or two days.
Jamaat secretary-general Mia Golam Parwar told the newspaper that discussions with the NCP were underway on a one-on-one basis and that “there is a possibility of sharing seats, and the issue will become clear very soon”.
Bengali daily Prothom Alo earlier reported that a seat-sharing deal between the NCP and former prime minister Khaleda Zia’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) was discussed, but no understanding was reached.
“Since then, NCP talks with Jamaat have progressed positively,” the report said.
The BNP has emerged as the forerunner in the changed political landscape, with its former ally Jamaat — its partner during the 2001–2006 tenure — now appearing as its main rival amid the apparent absence of the Awami League, which was disbanded by the interim government through an executive order.
