Show-Cause Drama: Patwary’s Seaside Sojourn and NCP’s Self-Deception

Staff Correspondent. Dhaka, August 7, 2025.

A show cause notice for breach of discipline in a political party is a serious matter. But the National Citizens Party (NCP) has turned it into a farce. While the general public is shocked to read the response to the show cause notice given by the party’s chief coordinator Nasiruddin Patwari regarding the Cox’s Bazar visit, political analysts are also saying – “This is not politics, but the ultimate form of self-deception.”

Patwari’s speech is more poetic than political. He writes: “Traveling is not a crime. History is not only made in meetings, but also in secluded rooms of contemplation or on the shores of the sea.”

It’s as if he’s some thinker sitting on Cox’s Bazar beach writing the future constitution of democracy. But the question is, doesn’t an explanation need to be given when a leader holding an important position in the party suddenly goes on vacation to avoid his duties?

Seeing such a response, a senior political analyst commented, “Perhaps the Patwari has forgotten that politics is not poetry. If the language of accountability before the people as a leader is comedy, then it sends a message of anarchy, not discipline.”

When several party leaders got into a controversy over the Cox’s Bazar visit, the party dramatically issued a ‘shock’. Again, the response to that shock was also written in such a way that it was as if it had been ‘scripted’ in advance. The question has been raised in political circles – “What is the point of party discipline if you ‘shock’ your close leaders and then fill the response with humor?”

It is being said that it is as if “they themselves have expressed their condolences, answered their own questions, and are now receiving their own applause”—this self-dramatization is a sign of the NCP’s ideological bankruptcy.

Despite the spread of rumors of a ‘secret meeting’ with former US ambassador Peter Haas during the visit, the NCP evaded responsibility and blamed it on a conspiracy. However, the question on the public’s mind is – “Why is no one at the top of the party taking responsibility after spreading an anti-state rumor? Why is the party being run by making memes with only satirical interpretations?”

The biggest crisis for a political party is when discipline breaks down from the leadership. When a chief coordinator like Patwari avoids party decisions and talks about ‘personal wanderings’, then the party is no longer a political organization, but a platform for children’s games.

The NCP leadership has long been under fire for its lack of organizational discipline, centralization of decision-making, and even a minimal culture of accountability. Instead, leaders try to deflect responsibility by making witty comments on social media.