National Parliament Chief Whip and NCP convener Nahid Islam has accused the ruling BNP of appointing loan defaulters and murder case suspects as ministers while pretending to reject legitimate parliamentary benefits. Speaking at a press conference in Dhaka’s Banglamotor on Thursday, he alleged that the BNP government is attempting to suppress media freedom and that its new cabinet continues old political arrangements without inclusivity or regional balance.

Nahid Islam said the NCP had hoped the recent election would advance democracy and good governance in Bangladesh, but alleged vote manipulation shattered those expectations. He stated that despite flaws, his party accepted the results for the sake of stability and took oath to make both the National Parliament and the Constitutional Reform Council functional. He accused the BNP of deceiving the public by not taking oath as reform council members.

Citing Transparency International Bangladesh, Nahid claimed 62 percent of MPs are businesspeople with large debts. He urged immediate convening of both the parliament and the reform council, warning that if the referendum is annulled, the government’s legitimacy would be questioned.

Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister and BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has launched a special website for residents of Thakurgaon-1 constituency to directly report incidents of extortion, land grabbing, or other local problems. In a verified Facebook post on Thursday, February 19, he urged citizens to use the platform to inform him about any wrongdoing or crime in their area. Fakhrul stated that the website, inaugurated on January 7, has already received a strong response, with numerous complaints and messages under review by his team. He assured that every message will be answered soon.

Several residents welcomed the initiative. Businessman Saiful Islam said the website offers a safe way to report extortion without fear, while teacher Roksana Begum called it a positive example of direct communication with a public representative. Youth Abdul Kader emphasized that visible action must follow the complaints and requested that identities of complainants be kept confidential.

The initiative aims to create a secure channel for citizens to report local crimes and ensure accountability through direct communication with their representative.

The government has formed a committee led by the finance minister to implement the planned Family Card program, Social Welfare Minister Dr. A Z M Zahid Hossain announced on Thursday after a meeting at the Secretariat. The committee is expected to submit its report within three days. The minister said the Family Card will provide more than double the financial assistance compared to existing card and allowance programs, while those current initiatives will continue. The new card will be distributed universally, and assistance will be delivered to beneficiaries through information technology.

Dr. Zahid Hossain described the Family Card as a new innovation of the BNP aimed at expanding and strengthening social protection programs. Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Abdul Awal Mintoo stated that the Family Card will be launched on a trial basis before the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr.

The initiative marks a significant step in the government’s social welfare planning, with digital delivery expected to enhance transparency and accessibility once the pilot phase begins.

At a press conference at the Ministry of Education in Dhaka on Thursday afternoon, State Minister for Education Bobby Hajjaj announced that the government will treat education as the state’s first investment rather than an expenditure. He said education will be the main factory for human resource development and the central project for nation-building. Hajjaj stated that the government aims to raise education spending to five percent of GDP, aligning with international standards of four to six percent.

He outlined a three-year fiscal uplift plan to improve both the quantity and quality of education funding, emphasizing milestone-based cash releases and alignment of development projects with the school calendar. The minister acknowledged inefficiencies, noting that 53 percent of the secondary and higher education development fund remained unused last fiscal year. He pledged reforms in procurement, spending quality, and classroom outcomes.

Hajjaj also announced initiatives for teacher training, digital literacy, artificial intelligence awareness, and cyber safety. Plans include mandatory third-language education, improved school infrastructure, and digital tools such as “One Teacher, One Tab.” He reaffirmed the government’s commitment to building a skilled, just, and technology-enabled Bangladesh through education.

US President Donald Trump has congratulated Bangladesh’s new Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on assuming office. In a letter sent on Wednesday, Trump extended greetings and best wishes on behalf of the American people for Rahman’s historic victory. The message emphasized the longstanding partnership between the United States and Bangladesh, built on mutual respect and shared interests in ensuring prosperity among strong and sovereign states within a free Indo-Pacific region.

Trump expressed optimism that under Prime Minister Rahman’s leadership, bilateral trade relations would advance further. The letter highlighted expectations that implementing mutual trade agreements would benefit farmers and workers in both countries. It also underscored the importance of completing regular defense agreements to ensure access to advanced US military equipment for Bangladesh’s armed forces.

The US President conveyed his hope that relations between the two nations would become stronger than ever before and affirmed his full confidence in the US ambassador stationed in Bangladesh.

A Dhaka court has postponed the date for submitting the reinvestigation report in the murder case of Inkilab Moncho spokesperson Shahid Sharif Osman Hadi. On Thursday, February 19, 2026, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Md. Sefatullah set February 26 as the new date after the investigating officer, CID Assistant Superintendent of Police Abdul Kadir Bhuiyan, failed to present the report.

According to case details, Hadi was shot by assailants on a motorcycle in the Box Culvert area of Paltan on December 12 after completing election campaigning in Motijheel. He was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital, later transferred to Evercare, and then to Singapore for advanced treatment, where he died on December 18. The case was subsequently reclassified as a murder case.

Earlier, on January 6, the Detective Branch submitted a charge sheet against 17 individuals, including former ward councillor Taizul Islam Chowdhury Bappi and Faisal Karim Masud. However, Inkilab Moncho’s member secretary Abdullah Al Jaber filed a petition expressing dissatisfaction with the DB report, leading the court to order further investigation by the CID.

Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir emphasized the urgent need for collective effort to build a successful and just state. Speaking at a views exchange meeting at the Secretariat on Thursday, he said individuals, society, and the state are deeply interconnected, and working as a team beyond divisions is essential for achieving development, good governance, and justice.

He noted that the government is implementing the Prime Minister’s vision amid a damaged economy and weakened state system. Emphasizing accountability to citizens, he said the government has launched multiple initiatives to restore the effectiveness and public trust of state institutions that had become weak or dysfunctional over the past fifteen years. Strengthening these institutions, he added, is key to building a sustainable and development-oriented state.

State Minister Mir Shah Alam highlighted that the ministry is directly linked to the public and must work collectively to uphold democracy and development. He described the 31-point program and election manifesto as a social contract with citizens, urging all to prioritize public interest over party interest for a welfare-oriented and sustainable state.

Environment, Forest and Climate Change Minister Abdul Awal Mintu announced that the government will launch the Family Card program on a pilot basis before Eid, during the upcoming Ramadan. The decision was made at an inter-ministerial meeting held on Thursday at the Secretariat, after which the minister briefed reporters about the plan.

Mintu said the Family Card initiative was included in the government’s election manifesto, and discussions are ongoing about how to implement it effectively. He explained that the program is intended to be universal, without restrictions, though a committee has been formed to determine the rollout process. Initially, the cards may be distributed to the ultra-poor, followed by the poor and middle-income families.

When asked about political implications, the minister dismissed concerns raised by the Communist Party of Bangladesh (CPB), which warned of electoral consequences if the program was delayed. He assured that the project would indeed begin before Eid and that the government is finalizing the operational mechanism.

Bangladesh’s Education Minister A N M Ehsanul Haque Milan announced that the ministry will focus on three key priorities: encouraging students to attend classes, reviewing and refining the national curriculum, and improving technical education. He made the announcement during a press briefing at the ministry’s conference room in the Secretariat on Thursday afternoon, where State Minister for Education and Primary and Mass Education Bobby Hajjaj also presented the ministry’s new agenda.

The minister said the government will examine how to bring English-medium schools under legal oversight, ensuring that all educational institutions operate within the law. He emphasized that schools must obtain proper authorization before opening and ensure student safety. Milan added that preparations are underway to hold the upcoming SSC examinations smoothly and expressed hope that anti-cheating drives would no longer be necessary.

He further stated that teachers should not leave classrooms for protests and that steps will be taken to prevent such situations. The minister also pledged to address complaints about retirement benefits for private teachers and review the MPO system for necessary action.

The National Citizens Party (NCP) has expressed concern over the show-cause notices issued to four journalists of Ekhon Television and the reported harassment of Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha (BSS) Managing Director Mahbub Morshed. In a statement signed by the party’s media cell member Sadia Farzana Dinar on Thursday, February 19, 2026, the NCP warned that failure to learn from the fate of past autocrats could lead to similar consequences for new ones.

The statement said the incidents reflect worrying signs for freedom of expression under the new government, which had been formed just a day earlier. According to the NCP, the journalists were questioned for expressing support for reform and referendum on Facebook, while a mob was allegedly mobilized to remove the BSS chief. The party accused media owners of exerting pressure and appointing partisan figures to control editorial positions.

The NCP demanded reinstatement of the Ekhon TV journalists and retention of the BSS editor, emphasizing that the democratic right to free expression, achieved through the July uprising, must not be lost.

Residents of Matlab North and South upazilas in Chandpur observed February 19 as a day of mourning, marking 21 years since the MV Maharaj launch disaster. On this day in 2005, the vessel capsized in a storm near Pagla in Narayanganj while traveling from Dhaka’s Sadarghat to Matlab, carrying more than two hundred passengers. The accident claimed the lives of over two hundred men, women, and children from Chandpur, Shariatpur, Bhola, and other districts.

Among the victims were several prominent local figures, including teachers, engineers, and businesspeople. Survivors recalled the tragedy as an unimaginable ordeal. Unidentified bodies were buried as unclaimed at the Riyazul Jannat graveyard in Matlab South, where families still visit to pray for their loved ones. Each year, locals and relatives hold prayers, memorials, and mourning gatherings to honor the victims.

Families of the deceased have renewed their call for stronger river transport safety measures to prevent similar disasters in the future, emphasizing that February 19 remains a painful reminder that time has not erased.

Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) candidate Sansila Zebrin Priyanka has demanded the cancellation of the Sherpur-1 (Sadar) constituency result and called for a re-election. She made the demand at a press conference held on Thursday at the Sagar-Runi auditorium of Dhaka Reporters Unity. In the thirteenth parliamentary election, Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami candidate Hafez Md Rashedul Islam was declared the winner in the constituency.

Priyanka alleged that many result sheets lacked polling agents’ names, signatures, and national identity numbers, and in some cases, presiding officers’ seals were missing. She claimed that presiding officers themselves filled in polling agents’ names and signatures, and overwriting was used to replace names. She also accused local officials, including the returning officer and assistant returning officer, of accepting incomplete documents and failing to act on repeated complaints. Priyanka further alleged post-election violence against polling agents who tried to present evidence of irregularities.

She urged the Election Commission to conduct a transparent and impartial investigation into the allegations and take legal action. Priyanka also claimed that slow voting and interference by Jamaat supporters disrupted polling in areas where her support base was strong.

A high-level Turkish delegation led by Necmettin Bilal Erdogan, son of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, arrived in Cox’s Bazar on Thursday for a one-day visit to observe the current situation of Rohingya refugees who fled from Myanmar. The 11-member team includes former German World Cup-winning footballer Mesut Ozil. They were received at Cox’s Bazar airport by local officials before visiting the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commissioner’s office and meeting with government representatives and Turkish aid organizations working in the camps.

During a brief press briefing, Bilal Erdogan emphasized the need for continued international efforts to ensure the safe and dignified repatriation of Rohingya people to their homeland. He noted that Turkey has been actively involved in humanitarian assistance since the beginning of the 2017 Rohingya crisis and expressed gratitude to the government and people of Bangladesh for their support.

The delegation later visited the Balukhali Camp No. 9 in Ukhiya, inspected Turkish-run facilities, and planned to join a charity football match and iftar with Rohingya refugees before returning to Dhaka at night.

An oil-carrying train derailed early Thursday, February 19, 2026, at Amnura in Chapainawabganj while en route from Khulna to the Amnura Power Plant. Following the incident, a relief train from Ishwardi arrived at the site around 10 a.m. but also derailed shortly after beginning rescue operations, causing further complications.

According to Amnura Railway Station Master Hasibul Islam, the relief train was later recovered through the efforts of railway officials. He confirmed that the rescue work for the derailed oil train is still ongoing. The double derailment has suspended rail communication between Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj and disrupted several train schedules.

Railway authorities are repairing the damaged track and working to remove the derailed train. Normal train operations on the route are expected to resume once repairs are completed. Passengers have experienced travel difficulties since the morning due to the sudden disruption.

Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) has inaugurated the country’s first Election Lab, dedicated solely to election-based research. The initiative, led by the Department of Political Studies, was formally launched on February 19, 2026, at the Social Science Building by Vice-Chancellor Professor Dr. A.M. Sarwaruddin Chowdhury. The lab aims to conduct systematic and empirical studies on elections, voting behavior, and electoral processes. The Vice-Chancellor expressed hope that the lab would help improve future elections through data collection and analysis.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by university officials, including Treasurer Professor Dr. Md. Ismail Hossain and department faculty members. Election Lab Director Professor Dr. Md. Shahabul Haque stated that the lab seeks to produce reliable research outcomes through scientific analysis of election-related data and to strengthen democratic practices. Following the launch, a seminar titled “Analysis of the 13th National Parliamentary Election Results” was held, where teachers and students discussed voting trends, political significance, and overall impacts.

The lab was approved on February 1, 2026, to unify prior departmental research on electoral surveys and candidate data. It is supported by the development and civic organization Impact Initiative.