In what appears to be another outburst of anger since a new committee has been formed, a group of disgruntled leaders and activists of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal yesterday locked the main gate of its central office at Nayapaltan in the capital.
They not only locked the office but also assaulted a leader of the new committee and burnt effigies of the former student leaders.
The Chhatra Dal office is situated on the third floor of the BNP headquarters.
Party’s Chairperson Khaleda Zia on Tuesday night approved the 201-member new committee mentioning the names of 153 persons. Protesting the move, a group of student leaders started staging demonstrations the following day.
On Wednesday, they hurled several handmade bombs in front of the BNP’s Nayapaltan office and brought out a procession demanding cancellation of the new committee.
Around 10pm the same day, some other members of Chhatra Dal blasted several crude bombs in front of the Gulshan office of the party chairperson when the Chairperson was still inside the office.
Not only the deprived ones, but many other leaders, despite getting posts in the new committee, have directly expressed dissatisfaction demanding cancellation of the committee terming it a “pocket committee of the central leaders.”
The Nayapaltan office, which had a deserted look since the Eid-ul-Adha, yesterday turned the opposite as some 100 aggrieved student leaders took position there around 11am. They locked the Chhatra Dal office at 12:15pm.
Apart from blocking gate by forming a human shield, they also took position in the lanes around the building.
When new Vice-President Moniruzzaman Monir tried to enter the area, he was assaulted and forced to leave the area.
Around 1:15pm, party’s acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir went in front of the office and faced slogans against the new committee.
To quell the situation, Fakhrul assured them of looking into the matter.
Around 2:30pm, Joint Secretary General Salahuddin Ahmed went to the party office. At that time, some student leaders complained to him about the new committee.
Some other leaders who were standing behind the negotiating leaders chanted slogans calling Salahuddin a “dalal” (agent).
When Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi came out of the office around 5pm, some student leaders cordoned him off and raised their demands. Rizvi was also labelled as an agent.
Following rumours in the afternoon that the new Chhatra Dal leaders would come to the Nayapaltan office, the deprived leaders brought out processions with sticks. But the new leaders did not visit the office.
The aggrieved leaders alleged that BNP’s Student Affairs Secretary Sahiduddin Chowdhury Annie and Assistant Student Affairs Secretary Sultan Salahuddin Tuku misguided the party chairperson and announced the “pocket committee” comprising of their own people.
They hanged and burnt effigies of Annie and Tuku in front of the main gate of the building.
In the demonstrations, former vice-presidents Abu Sayed, Jabed Hasan, Tarun Dey, Raju Talukdar and Kamal Ahmed; former organising secretary Anisur Rahman Talukdar Khokon; former joint secretaries Ferdous Munna and Tarikul Islam Titu; former assistant joint secretary generals Rakibul Islam and Abdul Mukit were present among other leaders.
Newly-selected Vice-President Sadiul Kabir Nirob, Joint Secretary Kazi Reaz and Organising Secretary Ishak Sarker were also present with the aggrieved leaders in solidarity.
Akramul Hasan, general secretary of the new committee, told Dhaka Tribune that they had been trying to solve the problem bringing all the aggrieved leaders under a common platform.
However, many of the new committee leaders alleged that Organising Secretary Ishak Sarker was behind the demonstration. Though Ishak did not take part in the programme directly, he also unhappy with the committee.
Senior Vice-President Mamunur Rashid Mamun also said he would not work with the new committee.
Asking his friends to not congratulate him, International Affairs Secretary Bayezid Arefin, joint secretary of the previous committee, wrote on Facebook: “I was showered with people’s love and affection from around the country. My realisation is that this is my best achievement in politics.”
Even though Khaleda since February had been saying that young and regular students and dedicated leaders would be given posts in the new committee, it was found that at least 20 leaders are married.
Of the new leaders, Mamunur Rashid is married while Ishak Sarker, aged around 48, is not a student.