During the Mass Uprising of July 2024, there was a question which was thrown at the protesting masses by the sympathisers of Bangladesh Awami League – who is the alternative? Although this was mostly a distraction topic at the time to stop citizens from demanding the resignation of Sheikh Hasina, it became a vital question afterwards. This is because a big proportion of Gen-Z, who were involved in the uprising, had grown up disliking the politics of both the Bangladesh Awami League and the Bangladesh Nationalist Party. The wall-arts done after the uprising also had writings like “No Awami League, No BNP, No Jamaat.” Among the millennials, who were also incidentally the product of another uprising(1990), there was a widespread sentiment for “something” new.
So it was really a breath of fresh air when the National Citizens’ Party launched on 28th February 2025, having leaders such as Nahid Islam, who became household names due to their contribution to the July Uprising. After their marches covering 64 districts in July, Nahid Islam announced their 24-point election manifesto on 3rd August 2025, the first anniversary of the day he announced the one-point demand of the resignation of Sheikh Hasina and promised to create a new political settlement.
The birth of the National Citizens’ Party is, in a sense, a testament to the different nature of the uprising of 2024. 1990, the last mass uprising this country had seen, didn’t give birth to a new party; rather, the power was divided among three established political parties: Bangladesh Awami League, Bangladesh Nationalist Party and Jamaat-E-Islami. The bloodshed was also minimal compared to the uprising of 2024, and the demands were not radical – it was a plea to return to parliamentary democracy and end military rule of H.M. Ershad. This was also reflected in the manifestos leading to the 1991 election.
Among the notable promises made by the Awami League at that time was the restoration of the 1972 constitution and parliamentary democracy, whereas the BNP focused on appointing an ombudsman and introducing the disclosure of assets and properties of all elected people’s representatives. That was a period of democratic revival across the world as well, especially the end of the USSR and the military regimes in many countries had given birth to new democracies. So for Bangladesh too, the way was simple – end military dictatorship and restore parliamentary democracy.
But in 2024, the equations are not so simple. The world has gone through different changes, and it has been seen that parliamentary democracies, too, can facilitate far-right politics and fascism. This has notably been the case with India and the United States of America. Even in Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina had won the 2008 election and used the state machinery to establish what Ali Riaz calls a pseudo-democracy – an authoritarian state which shies from calling itself authoritarian; instead, it says “democracy suited for the country”. Climate change, wealth inequality and the rise of communal violence – these are the concerns that plague a 21st-century citizen of any country. And the National Citizens’ Party’s manifesto clearly is a reflection of that fact.
National Citizens’ Party’s 24-point manifesto does deserve to be called ambitious. There are a few policy proposals which don’t have much parallel in Bangladesh, and they certainly should be praised. For example, in the 12th point titled “Dignity Of Religion, Community and Ethnicity”, Nahid Islam pledged to create a “multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-ethnic inclusive Bangladesh”. Notable was the fact of mentioning dalits-harijan and tafsili communities, and focusing on their right to education, health, employment and social security. These communities, who are not usually present in the conversations about communal harmony, getting a special mention in a political party manifesto surely is a sign of progress. The manifesto also pledged the establishment of a special independent cell of Human Rights Commission to tackle any form of discrimination and oppression based on religion. The pledge about restoring the stolen lands of Hindu community was also satisfactory.Another feat was including the Bangladeshi expatriates into the manifesto, who were an integral part of July Uprising. For long migrant workers have faced maltreatment at the hands of foreign authorities, and NCP has promised to work for their “healthcare and welfare”. The further addendum to include voting rights for expatriates, and the pledge to stop human trafficking was a brilliant move.
Another interesting move would be putting decolonialism into practice, through reforming the Police Act of 1861 and 1898. Both are colonial remnants from the British Period, which were instrumental in building a police state. The decision to bringing every police under Body Cam, and introducing community policing and Human Rights training for police also seems promising. The bigger pledge was definitely the pledge to abolish RAB. This has been a major human rights concern since its establishment, and it was praiseworthy step. NCP has also promised to reform the colonial acts to fit the current international standards of Human Rights, so that there remains no law which violates basic rights. Among them, a noteworthy mention was the “Whistleblower Protection Act”, which would protect an individual if they disclose corruptions. This is a positive development, and it would help to create a transparent government.
Under foreign policy proposals, NCP has brought up the issue of border killing, the proper share of international rivers and rohingya crisis – three which need to be addressed as soon as possible. The pledge to revive SAARC was also promising. SAARC was technically inactive for a while, but it does have the potential to bind south-east Asia together. Another interesting proposal was to build a permanent “Labor Commission” for social and legal protection of labourers. It remains to be seen if it can solve the wage crisis of workers, which is seen every year. Universal and digitalized healthcare is another ambitious project, along with the modernization of defence and investment in technology which has gone viral over social media. Besides these, the other proposals were modest and standard for any political party – better housing, employment, reforming the education sector, tackling climate change and such. While they are as inspiring as well as the previous ones, the previous ones are the proposals that truly differentiates NCP from other parties.
Should We Trust NCP?
In the beginning, it was emphasised that Bangladeshi citizens were frustrated with the old political establishment, and the record of the politicians not keeping any of their promises once they get in the power with the vote of their constituencies. Will NCP be the same?
This is a question better left for the future. But there is another question of trustworthiness regarding the manifesto, based on NCP’s performance till now. Can we trust NCP?
Take for example Point 13, titled, “Womens’ Safety, Rights and Empowerment”. It contains promising proposals such as legal help for women seeking their “proper” share in inheritance, and including the work of domestic workers in GDP calculation. No doubt, these are all valuable concerns. But if we dial the clock back a few months, we saw Hasnat Abdullah, one of the prominent faces of NCP go to Hefazot-E-Islam’s protest against Womens’ Rights Reform Commission in 2025, where the individuals involved behind this work were slutshamed. Ashraf Mahdi, another prominent member of NCP was also seen on these protests. There has been allegation of NCP leaders suppress investigations of sexual harrasment.
This is not to say that misogyny doesn’t exist in other parties, far from it. But as the party which proclaims to build new political establishment, NCP’s stance on womens’ rights so far has been unsatisfactory. Under these circumstances, how much capable would they be to fulfill their promises while appeasing their conservative faction?
Despite their ambitious promises, NCP has not fared good in terms of communal harmony too. There has been around 100 shrines which have been destroyed all over the country, and NCP hasn’t been seen to take a strong stance against it. NCP has been silent over the removal of blogger paintings from the Metro Pillars too. While there hasn’t been any party that has pledged to protect the lives of non-religious citizens in Bangladesh, and it might be a too high an expectation from NCP, but it would have been indicative of their belief in Human Rights for all. One of their initial party member, Md. Muntasir Rahman was expelled from the party immediately it was leaked that he was an LGBTQ+ rights activist. This was another unfortunate event, which casted doubt the party’s political maturity and commitment towards human rights.
On their promise towards decolonial practices, incident of Meghna Alam is exemplary. She was abducted from her home without warrant by law enforcement agencies, and the law that was later cited was Special Powers Act 1974, which is a continuation of Rowlatt Act, and an exemplary law of dictatorship of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. This colonial act should have been protested, but NCP didn’t have any strong stance regarding it either. This was a violation of human rights, and this touches many of their points in manifesto. While being vocal critic of colonial laws, it is unfortunate that there wasn’t much debate regarding this act.
These facts, which have occurred in between the formation of the party and the present day are shortcomings which do affect the perception of the party in citizens’ mind. This has the potential to create a lack of trust at the party manifesto, however elegant they may be. What NCP needs now more than ever is clarity in thinking and their speech, and truly showing that they are committed to protect the human rights of everyone regardless of their attributes. They have to convince women voters, who are the fifty-percent of the population, that they are worth considering. Otherwise, they would slowly walk towards failure even after having such a brilliant manifesto. One thing NCP’s manifesto can boast of is the youth of it. The leaders who are leading the party are young, ambitious and dreamy. This is not to criticize them at all, rather this youth makes them special. They currently represent the political aspirations of Gen-Z and the millenials who want a new and better political establishment, who have been frustrated with the older ones. Their manifesto does indeed reflect those aspirations. But they need to build their politics too. If they fail to build that, it will cost not only them, but also these new voters who want something better for the country. We hope that this uprising of 2024 doesn’t become a failure like in 1991, and truly leads Bangladesh towards a proper democracy.
Sadman Ahmed Siam is an independent columnist and a student of the Islamic University of Technology.
