A probe committee report has identified several individuals and organizations involved in instigating the Rohingya mass rally in Kutupalong's Modhurchhara refugee camp in Ukhiya on August 25.
The report came from a three-member probe committee formed by the government on August 27 to look into the role of non-governmental organisations (NGOs) in organising the gathering, as well as their activities in the refugee camps.
Apart from local Rohingya leaders, the names of several lawyers, college professors, officials from the Refugee Relief and Repatriation Commission (RRRC), police, and other organizations, have surfaced in the report.
Signed by Cox’s Bazar Deputy Commissioner Md Kamal Hossain, the report was submitted to the NGO Affairs Bureau on September 3.
The report said the rally, which was to commemorate the passage of two years of their latest exodus from Myanmar, was orchestrated by a group of local Rohingya leaders and the RRRC, Voice of Rohingya, Arakan Rohingya Society for Peace and Humanity Rights (ARSPH), and non-governmental organization ADRA, without seeking any prior approval from the district administration. Two NGOs – ADRA and AL Markajul Islami Sangstha – provided t-shirts and banners for the rally.
The names mentioned in the report are: ARSPH chairman Md Mohibullah, co-chairman Master Abdur Rahman, general secretary and Ukhiya Degree College provost Nurul Masud Bhuiyan, the organization’s advisor, Supreme Court lawyer Dulal Mollik, Rajshahi University researchers Dr Faridul Alam and Maulana Yousuf, Cox’s Bazar District Sessions’ Judges Court public prosecutor Mahbubur Rahman, Cox’s Bazaar Anti Corruption Commission public prosecutor Md Abdur Rahim, and police assistant sub-inspector (ASI) Borhanuddin.
The report said that before the mass rally, ADRA officials held meets on August 19 and August 21 at Kolatoli’s Shalik Restaurant where controversial Rohingya leader Md Mohibullah received a donation of Tk2.5 lakh for the rally. AL Markajul Islami Sangstha also helped in providing t-shirts for the rally.
The mass rally took place in the Modhurchhara refugee camp Extension-4 area on August 25. Apart from that, there were also separate rallies launched by different organizations on the football field in Block D-5 of the camp. Rohingya Refugee Committee (RRC) chairman Sirajul Islam also received Tk25,000 in donations to make his rally successful at Block D-5. The organization’s secretary, Saiful Haq, also received donations from his relatives abroad, especially from one Nurul Islam in London who donated Tk2 lakh.
The report also noted that ASI Borhanuddin’s motorcycle was used to distribute the t-shirts.
