National Citizen Party (NCP) convener and opposition chief whip Nahid Islam stated that friendship cannot be achieved through barbed wire fences and killings along the border. He made the remarks on Tuesday at a discussion and documentary screening titled “Shapla Massacre; A Decade of Impunity,” organized by the National Olama Alliance at the IDEB building in Kakrail, Dhaka.

Nahid Islam urged the government to take effective measures to stop border killings, protect national sovereignty, and secure the country’s fair share of water. He emphasized maintaining communal harmony and ensuring equal rights for all citizens, including Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, and Christians. He also criticized the BNP’s role during the 2013 Shapla Chattar incident, saying it should have acted more courageously as an opposition party.

He alleged that the lack of justice for the Shapla Chattar killings created conditions for later violence and called the shooting of unarmed and sleeping people a crime against humanity under international law. Nahid further said that political parties have often used religious scholars and madrasa students for political purposes and that their contributions deserve recognition in national history.