FENI — A dispute has erupted over the newly announced district committee of the National Citizen Party (NCP) in Feni. A section of leaders who were named to the committee held a news conference at the Feni Press Club on Saturday, Dec. 6, one day after the panel was unveiled.
Abdul Kaiyum Sohag, who was named a joint member secretary on the committee, read a written statement at the briefing. Joint member secretaries Abdullah Al Zobayer and Fazle Elahi Sayem were among those present.
Sohag said the district committee had been formed in disregard of the ideals of the July mass uprising and the party’s organizational rules. The grassroots had not been consulted, he said, adding that many leaders who had been at the forefront of the movement were dropped and replaced with newcomers. He alleged that two people facing accusations of extortion and bribery had been included on the committee, in violation of the spirit of July. The central leadership had been informed but had given no satisfactory response, he said. He called for a new committee to be formed, based on grassroots opinion, that excludes controversial figures and includes those who actually fought in July.
Zobayer, the other joint member secretary, said the committee’s exclusion of former coordinator Abdul Aziz and active member Tahmidul Islam — both prominent figures in the July-August movement and in NCP activities after Aug. 5 — had angered the dissenting members. To take the NCP’s program to the doorsteps of ordinary citizens, the real protesters must be given a place in the leadership, he said. He said he hoped the central leadership would act quickly.
The committee was approved Thursday, Dec. 4, in a notice signed by NCP member secretary Akhtar Hossain and chief organizer for the southern region Hasnat Abdullah. Jahidul Islam Saikat was named convener and Shah Wali Ullah Manik was named member secretary.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report