Leaders of the Rajshahi Metropolitan NCP were released late on Wednesday night after a group of youths identifying themselves as “July Fighters” locked them inside the party office, demanding that the district committee be dissolved. The youths marched to the Gankapara office at around 9pm and padlocked the main entrance, leaving several leaders trapped inside. The lock was removed nearly two hours later by party activists.
Witnesses said that at about 8:45pm, the young protesters entered the NCP office and began shouting, “Come out, come out. From today, all activities of the metropolitan NCP are shut down. The NCP is being declared unwanted in Rajshahi.” They also chanted a series of slogans, including “Inquilab, Inquilab, Zindabad, Zindabad”, “Action, action, direct action”, “Awami League will have no place in this country”, “Awami League’s agents, beware”, “Collaboration or freedom—freedom, freedom”, and “No compromise, struggle, struggle.”
When convenor Mobassher Ali attempted to calm them, the protesters refused and moved outside, giving the party leadership 20 minutes to vacate the building. At around 9pm, they locked the office gate while eight leaders, including the member secretary, remained inside. At approximately 11pm, NCP workers cut the lock and freed those who had been confined.
Following the incident, the protesters marked a cross on the gate and wrote slogans reading: “Boycott Awami League, boycott agents, boycott rehabilitators, boycott NCP.”
Mobassher Ali stated that eight people had been locked inside. He said, “Those who came yesterday were active during the July movement. They are refusing to accept the district committee. Their protest is logical. But we had no role in forming this committee; it was created by the central leadership. The centre must decide on this quickly.”
Five more step down from district committee
Five additional members of the Rajshahi district NCP committee have resigned, accusing the district convenor of being an associate of the Awami League. They submitted their resignations to the central office on Wednesday, demanding the immediate dissolution of the committee. With this, the total number of resignations from the district committee has risen to eleven.
The new resigning members are Azizul Islam, Asad, Milon Chandra Ghosh, Mohammad Ariful Islam and Naeem Fakir. They were appointed as district committee members on 29 November.
In their resignation letters, they wrote, “We were frontline fighters in the July movement, working to remove the autocrat. Yet one of that autocrat’s key associates, Saiful Islam, has been made convenor of the Rajshahi district committee. We strongly condemn this and request that the committee be cancelled immediately.”
The 114-member Rajshahi district committee was announced on 29 November, appointing Saiful Islam as convenor and Raniur Rahman as member secretary. The next day, joint member secretary Jihan Mubarak resigned at a press conference.
When responding to the allegations, Saiful Islam said, “Only if I held an organisational post or had responsibilities could it be said that I was associated with the Awami League. I held no such post.”
Glive24/SS