The year 2011 is a historic one for the people of Narayanganj.
When Selina Hayat Ivy won the maiden Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC) election, she not only won the battle against the chosen candidate of the ruling party, Shamim Osman, but her victory was also one for the people who never dared to speak in public against Shamim or his family.
Shamim Osman secured 78,705 votes, less than half of Ivy’s 180,048.
They come from prominent families in Narayanganj politics.
Ivy is the daughter of former Naryanganj municipality chairman Ali Ahmed Chunka, while Shamim Osman’s father AKM Shamsuzzoha was one of the founders of the Awami League. Both Chunka and Shamsuzzoha were close associates of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
The 2011 Narayanganj election was likely one of the few times the Shamim Osman family lost something against their will. It was also just the beginning of a change in the city’s politics.
At the time, supporters of Shamim Osman termed the defeat a sacrifice for the sake of greater national politics.
Since then, Ivy has won the elections three consecutive times. She secured her third term in the latest polls held in mid-January.
On condition of anonymity, Awami League central leaders who closely monitored the recent city election said they observed unsatisfactory performances from some local ruling party leaders during the campaign. These local leaders did not actively work in favour of party nominated candidate Ivy.
The dissident leaders had wanted to make Ivy fail but were unable because of the interference of the Awami League high command, the central leaders added.
Shamim's influence over grassroots
The Osman family started flexing its political muscles in late 1990s, when the Awami League was in power. Shamim Osman was an MP at the time, and he fled Narayanganj after the BNP-Jamaat-led alliance came to power in 2001.
Shamim’s late brother Nasim Osman, who was a leader of Jatiya Party, was also elected as a lawmaker several times.
The family continues to maintain an iron grip on grassroots politics in Narayanganj, but questions over whether they were doing so by ethical means arose after Shamim’s name came up in connection with several major crimes in the city, most prominently the sensational Narayanganj seven murders in 2013.
Rafiur Rabbi, father of victim Tanvir Mohammad Twaki, accused Narayanganj 4 MP Shamim Osman, his son Ayon Osman, Nasim Osman’s son Azmeri Osman, and several others of being involved in the murder. Nur Hossain, the prime accused in the seven-murder case, had left BNP to join Awami League in 2000.
Shamim Osma Mehedi Hasan/Dhaka TribuneMany people have praised Ivy for becoming mayor for three consecutive terms defying the influence of Shamim Osman, who is sometimes referred to as “The Godfather of Narayanganj”.
In the recently held NCC polls, there were 36 councillor posts. Of the elected candidates, 18 were backed by Awami league, 14 by BNP, 2 by Jatiya Party, one by Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal, and another was an independent candidate.
Out of the 18 elected councillors from the ruling party, 12 are followers of Shamim Osman, said party insiders.
“From the very beginning, Shamim has been involved in the Awami League politics in Narayanganj city and this has resulted in him having a large fanbase in the town. On the other hand, Ivy is popular among the general voters, and that helped her secure victory,” an Awami League leader said.
“This election result [in January] has proved that the people of Narayanganj want development and peace. The result also signals that the mass people do not want muscle politics in Narayanganj,” AFM Bahauddin Nasim, joint general secretary of Awami League, told Dhaka Tribune on the election day.
Three committees backed by Shamim made vacant
During and after the NCC polls, three committees of the Awami League were made vacant. The decision received mixed reactions in Naryanganj.
Bangladesh Chhatra League’s Naryanganj city unit committee, which was allegedly backed by Shamim Osman’s son Oyon Osman, was abolished amid the NCC polls election campaign on January 9.
On the day of election, Awami Swechasebak League’s Naryanganj city and district committees were also abolished as per instructions from the party’s central committee. The reason for the decision was cited as non-cooperation during the election campaign.
When contacted, Afzalur Rahman Babu, general secretary of Awami Swechasebak League, told Dhaka Tribune: “We have vacated these committees because they did not perform well for the party candidate Selina Hayat Ivy. Their response was not only dissatisfactory but also frustrating.
“Amid this non-cooperation, some youth activists of Swechasebak League worked hard with our central team in 27 wards of NCC, now we are collecting their information to reshape the new committee.”
Sramik League, the labour wing of the Awami league, also abolished their Naryanganj district and all upazila committees on January 17.
All of these committees were backed by the activists of Shamim Osman, local sources said.
According to party insiders, the AL usually does not vacate its city and district units without the council, but Narayanganj Awami League council as well as its district and city units currently lack organizational strength.
Narayanganj City AL unit and district AL unit were formed on September 12, 2013, and October 9, 2016, respectively.
The three-year terms of the committees expired long ago. Ivy has been the vice president of the Naryanganj district Awami League since 2016 and Shamim Osman is the first member of the Naryanganj city unit Awami League.
Local AL sources claim Shamim Osman still holds an advantage over Ivy in terms of number of followers and activists within the party.
When contacted, close associates of Shamim Osman told this newspaper there were rumours that Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was disappointed with Shamim Osman following the latest NCC polls, but these rumours were false.