Nahid Islam rally in Dhaka demands home and power ministers resign, warns India

Public patience in Bangladesh is wearing thin amid rising prices, a power crisis and a severe shortage of fuel and gas. Thousands of protesters gathered in front of the National Museum in the capital, Dhaka, and raised their voices against the government. The rally was led by Nahid Islam, a prominent leader of the National Citizen Party (NCP).

The rally was about domestic issues, but slogans such as "Not Delhi, Dhaka" were also raised, causing a stir in diplomatic circles in South Asia. The protesters sharply criticised the present administration.

Nahid Islam has been a leading face of the July 2024 mass movement that toppled Sheikh Hasina's government. He directly targeted Prime Minister Tarique Rahman. It was said at the rally that inflation had risen above 8.5 per cent and that shortages of electricity and gas had brought industry to a standstill.

Holding them responsible for this failure, the protesters demanded the immediate resignation of Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed and Power Minister Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku. They warned that if the two ministers did not resign, there would be an agitation across the country and the Prime Minister's residence would be gheraoed. In a post dated October 30, 2026, Nahid Islam also wrote that the fight would continue until all four demands, including the Home Minister's resignation, were met.

In his speech, Nahid Islam said, "We drove a dictator out of the country after the sacrifice of thousands of people. But now Tarique Rahman, who has returned from London, has come with a new agenda of corruption, plunder and extortion. A new dictator is rising in the country. But just as we defeated the old dictator, we will defeat this new dictator too." The statement has raised fears of a sharper clash between the ruling party and the opposition.

Nahid Islam claimed that Tarique Rahman's government had utterly failed to protect Bangladesh from India's conspiracies. NCP leaders accused India of plotting against Bangladesh. In his speech he also raised alleged incidents in border areas, claims concerning Muslims in Assam and West Bengal, and issues relating to religious places in Delhi.

Hardline MP Hasnat Abdullah was also present at the rally. He has earlier courted controversy by threatening to separate India's seven north-eastern states and to block the Siliguri Corridor (the Chicken's Neck).

The Ganga water-sharing treaty also dominated the rally. The 30-year treaty between India and Bangladesh, signed on December 12, 1996, expires in December 2026. Under it, Ganga water is shared at the Farakka Barrage in West Bengal during the dry season from January to May. The Ganga is called the Padma in Bangladesh, and the livelihoods of a third of the country's population depend on this water.

On the renewal of the treaty, Nahid Islam said, "If the Ganga water-sharing treaty with India is not signed again with justice and in a manner that protects Bangladesh's interests, the people of Bangladesh will once again take to the streets. This time we will make no compromise on the water that is our right."

Anti-India sentiment has been stoked in Bangladesh since Sheikh Hasina's fall from power in August 2024. After the February 2026 election, a Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government was formed under Tarique Rahman, but the country's economic troubles have worsened rather than eased. All eyes are now on how strained relations between the two countries become when the treaty comes up for renewal in December 2026.