DHAKA: Thousands of people joined a mass rally in Dhaka on Friday organised by the National Citizen Party (NCP), demanding the resignation of two ministers over rising prices, long power cuts and fuel and gas shortages. Anti-India slogans were also reported at the event.
The NCP was born out of the 2024 student-led uprising that removed former prime minister Sheikh Hasina. Its convener, Nahid Islam, led the rally in front of the National Museum. He demanded that Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed and Energy Minister Iqbal Hassan Mahmood Tuku step down. If they did not, he warned, the party would hold processions across the country and take them to “besiege” the residence of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman.
Nahid also attacked the prime minister directly, saying Bangladesh was seeing the rise of a new “autocrat”. The BNP government came to power in February. The report did not include any response from the government.
Slogans and claims about India
Videos on social media show NCP leaders shouting “Dilli na Dhaka” (“Delhi or Dhaka”), with the crowd answering “Dhaka, Dhaka”. Nahid said the government would not be able to protect Bangladesh from India’s “conspiracies”. He also spoke of alleged killings along the border, and claimed Muslims were being persecuted in Assam and West Bengal and that there were plans to demolish mosques in Delhi. The report says he offered no evidence for these claims.
He also warned that people would return to the streets if the Ganga Water Sharing Treaty was not renegotiated fairly. The 30-year-old treaty with India expires in December, and Bangladesh’s Water Resources Minister wants a new one by December 12. It covers how Ganga water is shared at the Farakka Barrage in West Bengal from January 1 to May 31. Known as the Padma in Bangladesh, the river system supports nearly a third of the country’s population.
Why people are angry
A gas and energy crisis has hit Bangladesh in recent months, linked to turmoil in the Middle East. The country imports over 90 per cent of its oil and 30 per cent of its gas. Long power cuts have hurt garment factories, and the World Bank puts inflation at about 8.5 per cent in 2026, with wages failing to keep pace. About 2.1 million more people are living in poverty than a year earlier, and child deaths from measles have added to the anger.
NCP MP Akhter Hossen said LPG costs Tk 1,000 in Kolkata but more than double that in Bangladesh, and asked why the Energy Minister could not explain the gap.
A history of sharp rhetoric
Anti-India remarks have grown since Hasina’s fall in August 2024. NCP MP Hasnat Abdullah, who was also at Friday’s rally, said in December last year that Bangladesh would give shelter to separatists from India’s seven north-eastern states if India sheltered those who destabilise Bangladesh. India objected strongly. Such remarks eased after the BNP government took office, but have returned alongside the domestic unrest.
