Local freedom fighters in Bagerhat’s Kachua upazila yesterday boycotted the Independence Day programmes as the upazila chairman hoisted the national flag in the beginning of the main programmereports our Bagerhat correspondent.
They were angry as they said the chairman, SM Mahfuzur Rahman who is an Awami League leader, had faced female harassment and electricity theft charges and it was not acceptable for them to see that such a man had hoisted the national flag on the Independence Day.
Hazra Delwar Hossain, commander of the freedom fighters in the upazila, claimed that Mahfuzur had been involved in a number of evil acts.
“This is why the freedom fighters boycotted all the programmes of the Independence Day,” he added.
In Gaibandha’s Sadullapur upazila, local journalists and a local trade body boycotted the Independence Day programmes organised by the local administration yesterday, reports our Gaibandha correspondent.
Journalists announced the boycott after they accused the upazila nirbahi officer, Abdullah Al Mamun, of disrespecting them and collecting money in the name of the Independence Day programme.
The Sadullapur Upazila Banik Samity brought the same charge against Mamun and expressed solidarity with journalists.
Addressing an emergency meeting at Sadullapur Press Club on Friday night, the club’s General Secretary Zillur Rahman Palash said Mamun had been forcefully collecting money from traders, educational institutions and other establishments in the name of arranging programmes bearing national significance since assuming office.
“This has caused discontent and anger among locals,” he said, before announcing the boycott of the Independence Day programmes.
Palash also said no programme organised by the local administration would be covered in the media until the upazila nirbahi officer was removed.
But Mamun could not be reached for comments over the allegations against him.
Gaibandha 3 lawmaker Dr Md Eunus Ali Sarkar said he would talk to journalists about the matter.