Ariful, three other BNP leaders announce resignation from central committee

Four leaders of the BNP, including Sylhet Mayor Ariful Haque Chowdhury, have decided to resign from the party’s central committee following a dispute over the formation of a panel of its youth front Jubo Dal.

Members of the party’s central committee Ariful and Shahriar Hossain Chowdhury, Micro-Credit Affairs Secretary Abdur Razzak, and Assistant Volunteer Affairs Secretary Shamsuzzaman Zaman announced the decision on Saturday.

They alleged the party did not esteem devoted leaders of its affiliates while forming new committees.

The four leaders from Sylhet said they would submit resignation letters to the party’s headquarters in Dhaka on Sunday.

“The decision to resign is a form of protest against forcing decisions upon us by the centre without informing the grassroots. Self-sacrificing leaders are not being valued,” Ariful told bdnews24.com.

He also said resignation from the central committee did not mean they quit the party.

It would not be right if the BNP leaders protested against the government only, but not the wrongdoings inside the party, Shahriar said.

More leaders would join their protests, he claimed.

Those given posts in a recently formed committee of the party’s youth front in Sylhet are unknown faces who infiltrated the organisation, Razzak alleged. 

“None of the four of us know them even though we are active in party programmes,” he said.

He also alleged a group in the BNP was out to damage the party by “misleading acting chief Tarique Rahman”.

A convening committee of Sylhet Jubo Dal was announced on Friday after 19 years.

Siddiqur Rahman, an expatriate in the UK, has been named convenor.