BNP set to miss deadline for new committees [ Tritiyo Matra News ]

BNP set to miss deadline for new committees

Local September 18, 2015

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party is set to miss September 30 deadline for constituting new committees of its all units, as it has so far formed new committees of no district unit and not even half of thana units, marking the slow pace of the party reorganisation.
Many grassroots and field-level leaders said that they were yet to start work for the reorganisation, as many leaders and activists were on the run facing cases and as the police and administration obstructed them from organising any meeting or council session.
They said that absence of many leaders, who held vital posts both in field-level and central committee and usually stay in capital, lack of coordination, internal feud and influential leaders’ intervention in committee formation also slowed the reorganisation process.
They also alleged no action against leaders for their repeated failures to become active in movement caused widespread apathy amongst grassroots and field-level activists.
Grassroots claimed that reorganisation should have been started from the top level as field-level leaders were more or less active in movement while the central leaders and Dhaka city unit totally failed in movement in 2013-2015.
Kushtia district BNP general secretary Mohammad Sohrabuddin said that still many activists of his district were either in jail or in hiding.
He said reorganisation work started in a small extent at ward level in the district and full-swing work
would start after Eid-ul-Azha to be observed on September 25.
Sohrab, who was in jail during the last movement, said that they needed more time to recast the organisation.
Nagorpur upazila BNP president Goutam Chakravarty said preparation for constituting new committees at ward and union level was going on.
Replying to a query, he said that it was not possible to accomplish the task by September 30 and more time was needed as all would remain busy ahead of Eid-ul-Azha.
Gazipur district BNP science and information secretary Anwarul Islam said that reorganisation process did not start and no meeting was convened by the district committee.
Anwar alleged that police barred them from holding meeting at the district party office.
BNP joint secretary general Mohammad Shahjahan, who was mainly monitoring the reorganisation, said that they could not hold any district council session.
He hoped that they might hold council session in three to four districts by September 30.
Shahjahan claimed that they would complete council session in maximum district by October 15 or 20.
Asked whether deadline for forming committees would be extended, he said time would be given if there was any logical reason particularly to those districts where work for reorganisation was going on.
The central committee would make decision over extension of time in those districts, where the work was yet to be started, he added.
Allegations have it that committees are being imposed by influential leaders in a number of places including Feni, Satkhira and Comilla.
A group of Sathkhira BNP leaders and activists thronged BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office few days ago to protest at intervene by influential leaders in forming the committees in the district, party sources said.
On August 9, a letter from central committee was sent to BNP presidents, general secretaries, convenors and joint convenors of districts and metropolitan cities asking to form new committees through holding council sessions in ward, union, thana, district and metropolitan cities.
They were asked to ensure dedicated and courageous leaders and activists in the new leadership
The letter signed by Mohammad Shahjahan asked them to complete formation of committees by September 30.
The letter warned that committees would be formed from central committee if any unit failed to meet the deadline.