JCD insiders unhappy

Ehsanul Haque Jasim :Non-students, irregular students, married people, and even the accused persons in murder cases have been selected for the new committee of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD), the student wing of the BNP.According to the JCD insiders, no regular student was included in the new committee. Only 30 to 35 leaders of the 201-member committee have been continuing their studentship with M.Phil and such other professional courses. Two-third leaders of the committee are married, while a number of them are father, even father of more than one children. Meanwhile, it is alleged that BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia has broken the law by announcing the committee, as the Representation of the People Order (RPO) does not allow any party to have any affiliate organisation. The constitution of the JCD was also allegedly violated, as it stipulates that the central committee should be composed of 101 members. The constitution also says that the committee will be elected, but the new committee is a selected one.  Khaleda Zia on Tuesday night approved the new committee. BNP Student Affairs Secretary Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie announced the names of 151 of the 201-member committee. A JCD leader of the new committee told The New Nation that over hundred leaders of the committee are married. Insiders of the organisation said that there are at least 40 businessmen are in the new committee. Dozens are facing criminal cases. Ages of all the members of the committee are above 30. Faruk Ahmed and Arafat are the most junior leaders of the committee and their ages are 30, said a JCD activist. A section of the leaders and activists of the JCD staged demonstration on Wednesday and on Thursday in front of BNP’s Nayapaltan office, Chairperson’s Gulshan office and some other parts in a show of rejection. The agitators said that qualifications of many were ignored due to personal preferences. They termed the new committee incompetent. Police arrested three JCD men from in front of the Nayapaltan office on Wednesday. They were protesting the announcement of JCD new committee. At one point, the angry JCD men exploded several cocktails there. The new JCD President Rajib Ahsan enrolled to Dhaka University in 1994-95 session. He is now more than 35 years old. General Secretary Akramul Hasan secured admission to the university in 1996-97. Senior vice president Mamunur Rashid Mamun got admitted in 1996-97 session.Akramul Hasan said it is less important that the central committee must have regular students. The JCD picks regular students for new university and college unit committees, he added.Vice-President Masum Billah was convicted for BUET student Sabekun Nahar Sony murder. He is also a married person. He was in jail for several years. Later, he was released on bail. Sony was killed during a gunfight between two JCD factions in the capital in 2003.Publicity Secretary Mahmudul Islam Himel is an accused in the murder of a private medical college student at Dhaka University’s SM Hall. Assistant General Secretary Ashraf Faruqui Heera was allegedly involved in drug trade on the DU campus.Studentship of Organising Secretary Ishaq Sarker had ended long ago. He got married during the 2001-06 tenure of the BNP-led government. He is father of a child. Vice-President Ejmal Hossain Pilot is the father of two children. Another Vice-President Nihar Hossain Faruque has been a lawyer for last 15 years. He is also married.The married JCD leaders also include Vice-Presidents Faisal Ahmed, Masud Khan Parvez, Masum Billah, Abdul Wahab, Ishtiaq Nasir, Khalilur Rahman Khalil and Safayat Hossain Ripon, Abu Atique Al Hasan Mintu, Zakir Hossain Khan, Zakir Hossain Mintu, Joydeb Joy, Yasin Ferdous Murad, Anwarul Karim Milon and Monira Akter Rikta, Joint General Secretaries Mia Mohammad Russell, Abdul Karim Sarker and Shah Nasiruddin Rummon, Assistant General Secretaries Ehteshamul Haque and Ismail Hossain Khan and Assistant Organising Secretary AKM Shafique Islam.Arifa Sultana Ruma, Joint General Secretary of the new committee, and some other JCD leaders said that there is no need to form its central committee with only regular students. About married members, they also said the JCD constitution does not bar inclusion of married members.About violation of the JCD constitution, Azizul Bari Helal, a former president of the JCD, said that since the BNP is an opposition party, it needs to accommodate more people in the party and its associated organisations. A JCD central leader, who did not get his expected post, said that Khaleda Zia did not keep her promise, as she sat with JCD leaders several times before formation of the new body and there was speculation that the married people might be excluded. Former Election Commissioner M Sakhawat Hossain said that Khaleda Zia has broken the law again by endorsing the party student wing’s new committee. The RPO forbids the formation of any front organisation of students, teachers or professionals by political parties, he added. He also said that the Election Commission can cancel a party’s registration if it breaks the electoral law.