Two ex-Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal leaders — Anisur Rahman Talukder Khokan and Abu Sayeed — who led a dissident group of the party’s student body in recent demonstrations against its new committee, on Monday were expelled from Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) for breaking party discipline.
A BNP press release signed by its joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Monday said JCD ex-organising secretary Anisur Rahman Talukder and former-vice president Abu Sayeed were expelled from all posts, including the party’s primary membership.
BNP asked its leaders and activists and also that of its associate bodies not to maintain any organisational contact or link with the two expelled former student leaders.
The party also asked JCD ex-vice presidents Javed Hasan Swadhin, Tarun De, former JCD joint secretaries Tariqul Islam Titu, Ferdous Ahmed Munna and ex-assistant general secretary Rakibul Islam Royal to show causes appearing in person at BNP’s Nayapaltan central office by 5:00pm on Tuesday over the allegation of their involvement in activities contrary to party discipline.
The action was taken against the rebel JCD men nearly 20 days after the aggrieved JCD activists, deprived of posts in its new committee, postponed their demonstrations and sit-in programmes in front of their Nayapaltan central office following a fruitful meeting with BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
On October 14, BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia approved a 201-member partial committee of the party’s student associate body with Rajib Ahsan as president and Akramul Hasan general secretary.
A group of dissident JCD leaders and activist started demonstrating in front of the Nayapaltan office the following day demanding that the new body of BNP’s student associate organisation be dissolved calling it an ‘incompetent and pocket committee’.
After five consecutive days’ demonstrations and violent clashes between the JCD rebel and new committee groups, BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir sat with the dissident groups on October 19.
After the meeting, the dissident group postponed their demonstrations.
Later, BNP standing committee member Mirza Abbas, assigned by the party high command, sat with the rebel JCD men but failed to reach an understanding.
Meanwhile, a group of JCD rebels, reportedly attacked a vehicle carrying BNP student affairs secretary Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Anee and its assistant secretary Sultan Salauddin Tuku at Bijoy Sharani intersection on Friday on their way to party founder Ziaur Rahman’s grave.
Party insides said though the BNP high-ups were trying to find an amicable solution to the problem, the attack on Anee and Tuku’s vehicle prompted them to take the action to avoid repetition of such incident and restore discipline.
Source: Prothom Alo
