Disgruntled Chhatra Dal leaders padlock BNP office

The leaders of disgruntled Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, or JCD, the student wing of BNP, have padlocked the BNP office at Naya Paltan after the party dissolved the expired committee.

They staged a sit-in in front of the BNP office around 11 am in Dhaka on Tuesday. Some of them went on hunger strike.

The protesters urged the party to form a new panel based on the three proposals provided by them.

They also demanded that the party remove the age limit for committee members and form a short-term committee and a central committee in coordination with universities, colleges, metropolitans and the central office.

The JCD committee was formed in 2014 with 153 members, including Rajib Ahsan as the president and Akramul Hasan as the general secretary.

A full-fledged committee was formed later. But that had also created discontent among the JCD members.

The BNP dissolved the expired committee of JCD on Jun 6 and also fixed the criteria to apply for the posts in the new council.

The candidate must be the primary member of JCD and a student of any educational institution in the country. They should pass the SSC or equivalent exams after 2000.

On Monday, the BNP formed three committees with the former leaders of the student organisation during the new council meeting.

But the disgruntled JCD leaders and activists objected to the age limit for candidacy and the announcement of dissolving the committee.

Tension brewed up as the JCD leaders and activists chanted slogans like—“collaborators to the government should be careful,” ”we want our rights to be fulfilled”.

Former JCD leaders Shamsuzzaman Dudu, Amanullah Aman, Fazlul Haque Milon, Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Anee, ABM Mosharraf Hossain, Shafiul Bari Babu and Abdul Quader Bhuiyan Jewel went to the scene but could not enter the BNP office.

The former leaders were seen waiting in front of Hotel Victoria at Naya Paltan. Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi was staying inside the office though he was in poor health. He has been receiving treatment inside the office for the past few days.

Former JCD leaders Khairul Kabir Khokon and Azizul Bari Helal were also inside the BNP office.