Protests, vandalisms, blasting cocktails, chasing leaders – the Chhatra Dal men, who were excluded from BNP student body’s recently announced central committee, did everything to show their discontent.
But in reply, the BNP high command expelled three former student leaders, deepening the already existing crisis that its student wing Chhatra Dal had been facing. Two of them were members of two previous committees and one was part of the new one.
Moreover, show cause notices were served against seven other Chhatra Dal leaders, who protested loudly after being left out of the committee.
They were asked to explain their positions regarding the violence that had taken place recently at the party’s Nayapaltan office after the committee had been announced on October 14.
Soon after the expulsion order had been issued yesterday, the dissidents threatened to revamp the movement demanding cancellation of the new committee.
Of the expelled Chhatra Dal leaders, Anisur Rahman Talukdar Khokon was the organising secretary of the Tuku-Alim committee and Abu Sayeed was a vice-president of the Jewel-Habib committee.
Gazi Rezwanul Haque Riaz, a joint secretary of the new committee, was also expelled. Reportedly, he wanted a better post.
A press release, signed by BNP Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, said Khokon and Sayeed had been expelled from the party for violating discipline.
On the same grounds, show cause notices were served against former Chhatra Dal vice-presidents Javed Hasan Swadhin and Tarun Dey, former joint secretaries Tarikul Islam Titu and Ferdous Ahmed Munna, and former assistant general secretary Rakibul Islam Royal.
The statement said Khokon and Sayeed’s primary memberships had been cencelled. It asked party leaders and activists to not maintain any organisational tie with the expelled leaders.
Chhatra Dal Office Secretary Abdus Sattar Patwary confirmed the expulsions and show cause notices.
The leaders facing the actions held an emergency meeting soon after and made a decision to wage non-stop demonstration in front of the party’s Nayapaltan office, starting today, until their demands were met.
When contacted, expelled Abu Sayeed said: “The party expelled us without giving us any opportunity to defend ourselves. This is undemocratic and against the party charter. In addition to Annie and Tuku [former Chhatra Dal front men], BNP chairperson [Khaleda Zia]’s special assistant Shamsur Rahman Shimul Biswas also pulled the strings from behind the scene.”
Show-caused Tarikul Islam Titu told the Dhaka Tribune: “We will go to the party office to reply the show cause notices. Our demand is clear – no matter where we find ‘government agent’ Tuku, we will resist him. We do not care even if we are show caused or expelled.”
According to sources, BNP standing committee member Mirza Abbas, who had been officially given the task to resolve the crisis, said the expulsions would not bring any result.
Reportedly, he made the remark during a meeting with Annie and Tuku at his residence yesterday.
On November 7, a group of aggrieved Chhatra Dal leaders attacked the vehicle carrying Annie and Tuku at the Bijoy Sarani intersection in the capital. Annie and Tuku were on their way to party founder Ziaur Rahman’s grave to pay tribute on the occasion of the National Revolution and Solidarity Day.
After the incident, Khaleda Zia asked the party’s acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir to bring back discipline among the ranks.
Fakhrul then held a meeting with Annie, Tuku, Rajib, Akram, Ishak and Asaduzzaman Asad at the chairperson’s Gulshan office on Sunday night.
In that meeting, Ishak Sarkar was slammed for taking stance against the new committee. Then the decision to expel the dissident leaders were made, meeting sources said.
Sources also said Ishak, along with some other leaders, then went to Khaleda Zia to inform her about the meeting decisions, sought mercy from her and promised he would obedient in future.
Soon after the new committee of Chhatra Dal was announced on October 14, a section of student leaders, who thought they deserved posts, lodged protests.
They demanded a new committee and expulsion of former Chhatra Dal front men Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie and Sultan Salahuddin Tuku from the BNP. The dissident leaders and their followers vandalised and kept the Nayapaltan office blockaded for one day.
Immediately after the skirmishes, sensing that the situation might worsen, Mirza Fakhrul held a meeting with the aggrieved leaders but failed to reach any conclusion. Mirza Abbas also held a series of meetings with them but to no avail.
There are allegations that Annie and Tuku hand picked their favourite leaders to the new committee.
