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Member of Parliament and NCP leader Hasnat Abdullah
National Citizen Party (NCP) Chief Organizer for the Southern Region and Cumilla-4 (Debidwar) lawmaker Md. Abul Hasnat (Hasnat Abdullah) on Tuesday severely criticized the government, characterizing Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s open intent to deploy state intelligence agencies against political opponents as "extremely dangerous and a confirmed hallmark of fascism." Hasnat also alleged widespread financial irregularities surrounding the multi-billion-taka family and farmer card distribution schemes being routed through Direct Purchase Methods (DPM).
In an extensive statement published on his personal Facebook profile on Tuesday night (October 20), Hasnat Abdullah questioned whether any premier has the legal mandate to weaponize state security apparatuses against opposition figures. He argued that targeting political dissent through intelligence surveillance mirrors tactics from previous autocratic administrations, distracting state forces from core national security responsibilities.
Addressing procurement practices, the lawmaker claimed the government is systematically circumventing open tendering to favor direct purchase channels across major initiatives. He alleged that defense logistics entities like the Bangladesh Machine Tools Factory (BMTF) and armed forces wings are being positioned on paper to mask supply contracts handed over to ruling party loyalists. Hasnat highlighted that private banking providers deliver plastic smartcards for Tk 125 to Tk 130 per unit, whereas farmer and family cards are being billed at Tk 300 to Tk 365, alongside an additional Tk 2,010 crore project allocation for database compilation. He pointed out that existing databases from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS), utility payment profiles, mobile financial accounts, and microcredit metrics could readily identify underprivileged recipients within routine budgets, rendering fresh bloated allocations redundant.
Warning military and intelligence leadership against political entanglements, Hasnat urged institutional independence, reminding officials of the past reputational damage, enforced disappearances, and international sanctions resulting from partisan misuse. Emphasizing that state bodies belong to all 180 million citizens rather than any ruling party, he asserted that Bangladesh cannot afford to slide back into authoritarian governance.
https://thedailyexpress.news/news/politics/1f1ccb0b-9c0b-6280-8fca-ea930158a4d9