Hasnat Abdullah, Chief Organizer (South) of the National Citizen Party (NCP), has officially responded to the show-cause notice issued against him for his absence during the July Uprising Day observance, citing a personal trip to Cox’s Bazar. In a statement published Thursday (August 7) on his official Facebook page, Hasnat explained the reasons behind his travel and expressed dissatisfaction with the party’s official declaration made on that historic day.
In his written response, Hasnat acknowledged the receipt of the August 6 notice (Memo No. NCP/ShowCause/2025-2025/08) and said he was replying out of his commitment and sense of responsibility toward the party.
He emphasized the significance of the July Uprising, recalling how people laid down their lives for a new Bangladesh—one free from authoritarianism, where every citizen could live with dignity. He criticized the party’s declaration for failing to represent those aspirations and excluding key voices from the movement.
“It deeply pains me and many others that the families of the martyrs, the injured, and those who led the uprising were given no opportunity to contribute to the declaration. Some were not even granted the basic courtesy of inclusion,” he wrote.
Hasnat pointed out specific content in the draft that he believes contradicts the spirit of the uprising. For example, the declaration stated that the responsibility for constitutional reforms would lie with the next elected government. Hasnat rejected this claim, calling it untrue and a major obstacle to fundamental constitutional change. He reiterated the party’s longstanding demand for a new constitution through a Constituent Assembly to dismantle the foundations of fascism.
He also expressed moral objection over the reported exclusion of injured protesters and movement leaders from the main July 4 event. “Where division is prioritized over unity, and where a few select groups are given the spotlight over the martyrs and the injured, I had neither the desire nor the necessity to attend,” he stated.
Hasnat said he left Dhaka the next day to reassess recent developments and reflect on future steps. He described his Cox’s Bazar trip as a silent protest against the flawed declaration. Before his departure, Hasnat claimed he had tried to inform the party Convener, Nahid Islam. When he couldn’t reach him, he notified Chief Coordinator Nasiruddin Patuary, who was with the convener at the time. According to Hasnat, Nasiruddin later confirmed that he had informed the convener and received approval.
He further mentioned that he was later joined by Nasiruddin Patuary, Sarjees Alam and his wife, and the couple Tasnim Zara-Khaled Saifullah. However, what followed, according to Hasnat, was “deeply disturbing.”
“From the airport itself, state intelligence agencies took photos and videos of our every move and handed them over to the media. Some outlets even added crime thriller music and broadcasted false and misleading allegations,” he said.
Hasnat accused sections of the media and the intelligence community of colluding to portray their trip as criminal and suspicious. Rumors even circulated that they were heading for a secret meeting with Peter Haas to plot against democracy, despite Haas not being in Bangladesh at the time.
He denounced such state surveillance tactics and media demonization as unacceptable in any democratic state, warning that today’s targets could be anyone tomorrow. “This is the same propaganda technique used during the Hasina regime to smear opposition leaders. That it is now resurfacing in the ‘New Bangladesh’ is both shocking and infuriating,” he said.
One of the most distressing aspects of the incident, Hasnat noted, was the sexist and defamatory slander campaign against Tasnim Zara.
“Simply because she is a woman, Tasnim became the subject of vulgar and targeted attacks on social media. Certain media outlets published deliberately misleading and offensive headlines about her. This joint assault by intelligence agencies and the media was a clear attempt to humiliate a woman,” he wrote.
He believed the intention behind this “vile attack” was to discourage women from entering politics. “Women played a leading role in the July Uprising, yet this is the treatment they receive afterward,” he lamented.
Hasnat criticized the party for not taking a firm stand against such attacks and instead issuing a show-cause notice that, in his view, legitimized false narratives and conspiracy theories.
He also noted that a show-cause notice should only be issued when a party member violates a specific constitutional or bylaw provision. “No such violation has been cited in the notice because I have broken no law. Issuing an arbitrary notice and then leaking it to the media shows a serious lack of political wisdom,” he said.
In conclusion, Hasnat reaffirmed his commitment to the NCP and called for greater mutual respect and democratic tolerance within the party. He thanked the party for allowing him to explain his position.
