Nahid Islam, Convener of the National Citizen Party (NCP), has claimed that although the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement proposed the formation of a national government following the July uprising, BNP’s Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman did not agree to the proposal.

Refuting BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir’s recent remarks that no such proposal was made by the students, Nahid said the statement was “not true.” He noted that Fakhrul had recently stated in an interview that the students had not submitted any proposal to form a national government.

Nahid made the claim in a Facebook post on Thursday, where he addressed various related issues.

“At our late-night press briefing on August 5, we clearly stated our intention to form an interim national government,” Nahid said. “Following that, we held a virtual meeting with Tarique Rahman, during which the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement proposed forming a national government and drafting a new constitution. Tarique Rahman did not agree. Instead, he suggested forming an election-time interim government composed of members of civil society. In response, we proposed Dr. Muhammad Yunus as Chief Adviser.”

He further said: “In the early hours of August 7, we met Mirza Fakhrul at his residence and discussed the interim government and proposed advisory council. Before the council could be sworn in, we held another meeting with Tarique Rahman to review and discuss its proposed members.”

Addressing other issues, Nahid dismissed recent claims by Shibir leader Shadik Kayem, who had said in a talk show that Shibir was involved in the formation process of Chhatra Shakti and that the group acted under Shibir’s direction.

“This is false,” Nahid said. “Secondly, Shadik Kayem was never a coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement. However, since August 5, he has been using this title. Due to Shibir’s role in the uprising, he was allowed to be present at the press briefing.”

Nahid also claimed that on the night of August 2, 2024, Zulkarnain Saer and his group attempted to orchestrate a military coup to hand over power to a faction within the armed forces.

“To this end, student coordinators housed in the so-called safe house were pressured and threatened to issue a one-point declaration on Facebook that night, calling for the government’s overthrow and to cut off all communication with us,” he stated.

“It was clear to us from the beginning that power must not be handed over in any way to the military or any military-backed group. That would create another ‘one-eleven’ scenario and provide the Awami League with an opportunity to return, which would ultimately harm the defense forces,” he said.

Nahid further alleged that since August 5, Saergong has repeatedly tried to establish a rival leadership using Shadik Kayem and his associates, whom he claims were manipulated for this purpose.