Ex-Gono Odhikar Parishad leader Reza Kibria accuses govt of betraying Uprising martyrs

He says the changes in governance he had hoped for did not materialise, and improvements never came

Economist and former Gono Odhikar Parishad leader Reza Kibria has accused the interim government of betraying those killed in the July Uprising, saying he had “no doubt” about the matter.

On Saturday, the economist and politician claimed the government had failed to maintain stability and warned of the possibility of another revolution.

He said expectations of qualitative change after the fall of the Awami League on Aug 5 last year had not been met under the interim administration sworn in three days later.

He added that Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus filled the cabinet with NGO associates and local Chattogram figures lacking both “skill and honesty”.

Calling the government “inferior to Sheikh Hasina’s”, Kibria said the nation had lost its path to revolution and that he had never imagined such a poor-quality administration would follow Hasina’s.

Speaking at a discussion organised by Janata Party Bangladesh at the National Press Club, he warned many advisors would eventually flee abroad to escape accountability.

He singled out Law Advisor Asif Nazrul, comparing him unfavourably to former law minister Anisul Huq, and accused student leaders of being deceived into supporting a “wrongdoer”. He further alleged that some students had already fallen into corruption.

Kibria, son of slain Awami League finance minister Shah AMS Kibria, entered politics before the 2018 election through Dr Kamal Hossain’s Gono Forum, later becoming its general secretary.

He left after disputes, then co-founded Gono Odhikar Parishad with Nurul Haque Nur, but quit amid factional conflict in January 2023.