Staff Reporter :
Environment, Forest and Climate Change Adviser Syeda Rizwana Hasan has strongly dismissed allegations by National Citizen Party (NCP) Convener Nahid Islam that some members of the interim government are seeking a “safe exit” from the country.
Speaking to reporters at the Secretariat on Wednesday, Rizwana described Nahid’s comments as “baseless” and said the government maintains constructive relations with all political parties, including newly formed ones.
“The government maintains good relations with all political parties, including newly formed ones. Now, why he [Nahid] made comments about advisers’ safe exit or what grievance prompted him to do so—that’s for their party to explain,” Rizwana said.
She stressed that the government could only respond to formal communications, not to “informal or speculative remarks.”
“When any issue is formally communicated to us, the government will definitely respond, work on it, and engage with everyone. But it is not possible for us to speak based on informal comments. He [Nahid] must clarify his own statement,” she added.
Asked about the “safe exit” issue directly, Rizwana replied, “I am not seeking any exit at all. I will spend the rest of my life in Bangladesh.”
Her remarks came a day after NCP Convener Nahid Islam claimed that some advisers were looking for ways to leave the country, later admitting that trusting some of them had been a “mistake.”
Reacting to Nahid’s claim, another NCP leader, Sarjis Alam, reiterated the allegation on Tuesday, accusing certain advisers of “trying to escape responsibility.”
“Some advisers appear focused on escaping responsibility rather than carrying out their duties. Where will one take a safe exit? There is only one place in the world to take a safe exit, and that is death. Wherever you go on the face of the earth, the people of Bangladesh will catch you,” Sarjis said.
Rizwana, however, dismissed both remarks as political speculation. “It’s not my responsibility to substantiate or refute Nahid’s remarks,” she said. “If his statement were specific, perhaps the government would have responded. Maybe it was simply their assumption or opinion. In this case, there’s no scope for the government to take a position or issue an official statement.”
The exchange marks the first public disagreement between the interim government and the NCP since the latter’s emergence as a newly formed political platform earlier this year.
