‘We are not afraid’, NCP leader Akhtar says after harassment in NY

The people of Bangladesh showed the highest level of courage against Awami League and even sacrificed their lives, said National Citizen Party (NCP) Member Secretary Akhtar Hossen, claiming that they have a target of Awami League.

”We are not afraid of this. They will remain united and Awami League will not be able to return.”

Soon after coming out from the John F. Kennedy International Airport with BNP and Jamaat leaders, Akhter Hossen and NCP’s first senior joint member secretary of Nationa Dr Tasnim Jara were confronted by a small group of Awami League supporters.

The protesters chanted slogans until the delegation entered their vehicles. At one point, eggs were thrown at Akhter Hossen.

Speaking to reporters later at a hotel in New York, Akhter said Awami League activists were resorting to the same intimidation tactics abroad that they practised in Bangladesh.

Dr Tasnim Jara, who faced verbal abuse during the incident, condemned the attack and linked it to a broader pattern of hostility towards women in politics.

“This is nothing new. We have seen how women – who were on the front during the movement and now getting involved in politics – were targeted and undermined by the Awami League in Bangladesh. Today, we saw a reflection of that again,” she said.

Dr Tasnim stressed that such incidents would not deter them from their political mission.

“This cannot stop us. Many people are joining with us, and people rejected the Awami League,” she said.

She said the attack was aimed not at Hossen as an individual, but at his political identity as a representative of an anti-fascist movement.