A note of internal disquiet has apparently struck the National Citizen Party over a Facebook post by its chief organiser Hasnat Abdullah in which he accused the army of making attempts to rehabilitate Awami League.
The discord became visible when NCP chief organiser, Sarjis Alam, on Sunday in a detailed post on his Facebook wall publicly disagreed with some of Hasnat鈥檚 account of their meeting with the army chief.
Meanwhile, at an event in Sylhet, NCP chief coordinator Nasiruddin Patwari on Saturday criticised Hasnat鈥檚 statement, calling it devoid of etiquette.
Hasnat Abdullah on Friday in a Facebook post alleged that a conspiracy was being hatched to launch a 鈥榬efined Awami League鈥� behind which India was playing the main role.
The post mentioned that former Jatiya Sangsad speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, former environment minister Saber Hossain Chowdhury and former Dhaka South city mayor Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh would be the face of Awami League in its repatriation.
He said that the proposal was given to him and two others from the cantonment on March 11.
When contacted, the Inter Services Public Relation聽 Directorate declined to comment.聽
A report by Sweden-based Netra News, however, claimed that the army headquarters responded to Hasnat鈥檚 post.
The Netra News report, published on Saturday, quoted the army headquarters as saying that Hasnat Abdullah鈥檚 post was 鈥榥othing but a pure political stunt鈥�.
In his post, Hasnat claimed that when they were presented with the proposal, they immediately opposed it, urging the authorities to abandon any plans to rehabilitate Awami League and instead focus on bringing the party to justice.
鈥業n response, we were told that if any obstacle was created to prevent Awami League鈥檚 return, we would have to take responsibility for the resulting crisis and that 鈥淎wami League must come back,鈥濃�� he said in the post.
In response to Hasnat, another NCP chief organiser, Sarjis, also turned to the social media and on Facebook wrote that he disagreed on several points with Hasnat鈥檚 account.
Sarjis said that he found inappropriate the manner in which Hasnat conveyed the discussion with the army chief on Facebook.
鈥楢s a result, our important discussions with any stakeholders in the future could face a crisis of trust,鈥� he said.
鈥楾hat day, Hasnat and I went to speak with the army chief. I have some disagreement with the way Hasnat from his own perspective interpreted and then conveyed on his Facebook post what the army chief said,鈥� Sarjis wrote.
Sarjis continued to write that from his perspective, he viewed the army chief鈥檚 words not as a direct 鈥榩roposal鈥� but rather as a 鈥榗lear expression of opinion鈥�.
He said that there was a difference between expressing an 鈥榦pinion鈥� and making a 鈥榩roposal鈥�, though the army chief had spoken in a much more straightforward manner that day compared with previous conversations.
In his post, Sarjis also stated that regarding the issue of 鈥榩ressure鈥� for a 鈥榬efined Awami League,鈥� he did not perceive it as pressure.
Instead, he believed that the army chief was speaking with great confidence about the situation the country might face in the longer term and potential problems that might arise between political parties if a refined Awami League did not emerge.
Hasnat stated in his Facebook post, 鈥楢t one point in the discussion, I said, 鈥渉ow can you forgive a party that has neither apologised nor admitted its crime?鈥� The other party angrily replied, 鈥淵ou people know nothing. You lack wisdom and experience. We have been in this service for at least 40 years. We are older than you.鈥�
鈥業t鈥檚 true that this conversation occurred. I didn鈥檛 think that the army chief said this in an angry tone, but rather in the tone and expression of someone relatively senior in age who was conveying the burden of experience to his juniors,鈥� Sarjis said in his post.
In the comment section underneath Sarjis鈥� post, NCP senior joint chief coordinator Abdul Hannan Masud commented, 鈥業 am saying this publicly鈥攐ne of the two (Sarjis and Hasnat) is lying. This cannot continue.鈥�
He said that despite holding important positions in the party, the way they were having meetings with people at different levels without informing the party and then and making it public without the party鈥檚 knowledge was triggering controversy around the NCP.
鈥榃hile people are dreaming about the NCP, whose agenda is it to make the NCP controversial?鈥� Masud questioned.
NCP chief coordinator Nasiruddin said that Hasnat鈥檚 statement regarding a meeting at the cantonment should not have been shared on social media.
鈥榃e believe it lacks etiquette,鈥� he said.
Nasiruddin also said that they had observed various individuals from the cantonment interfering in the political space and emphasised that they did not want such interference.
He said that political decisions should be made by political figures and called on government institutions not to get involved in them.
Sweden-based Netra News, in its report, claimed that the army headquarters admitted that a meeting took place on March 11 with army chief General Waqar-uz-Zaman at the cantonment.
However, the allegations of 鈥榯aking Hasnat Abdullah and proposing or pressuring him on the issue of the rehabilitation of Awami League鈥� were denied, the report said.
Netra News reported that when they contacted the army headquarters it responded through a spokesperson.
It said that the army headquarters鈥� statement described Hasnat Abdullah鈥檚 post as 鈥榥othing but a pure political stunt鈥�.
According to Netra News, the army referred to the 27-year-old student leader鈥檚 statement as 鈥榓n outright ridiculous and immature collection of stories鈥�.
Asked about the Netra News report claiming army headquarters鈥� statement, the Inter Services Public Relation Directorate said that it did not give any official statement to Netra News.