14 Secretariat employees suspended over protest
Staff Reporter :
The government has suspended 14 Secretariat employees over their alleged involvement in protests demanding the introduction of a so-called “Secretariat allowance,” escalating a confrontation between public servants and the administration that briefly paralyzed the country’s top bureaucratic hub.
The suspension orders were issued on December 15 through separate
notifications by the employees’ respective ministries, officials said, after a Dhaka court accepted charge sheets filed against them in cases lodged under the Anti-Terrorism Act.
The decision followed days of protests that culminated in the confinement of the finance adviser inside the Secretariat compound.
Among those suspended are Badiul Kabir, president of the Secretariat Officers and Employees United Council, and the council’s vice-presidents Shahin Golam Rabbani and Nazrul Islam.
The remaining employees placed under suspension include Md Taiful Islam, Bikash Chandra Roy, Islamul Haque, Md Mohsin Ali, Roman Gazi and Abu Belal from the Ministry of Health; Mizanur Rahman Sumon from the Ministry of Information; Kamal Hossain and Md Alimuzzaman from the Ministry of Public Administration; Bipul Rana Biplob from the Ministry of Finance; and Nasirul Haque from the Cabinet Division.
On December 12, a Dhaka court ordered five days’ remand for 14 people, including Badiul Kabir and Shahin Golam Rabbani, after police produced them in connection with a case filed at Shahbagh Police Station.
Prosecutors accused the group of staging rallies, meetings and demonstrations that disrupted government functions and of confining Finance Adviser Salehuddin Ahmed during the protest.
The unrest began on December 10, when hundreds of Secretariat employees gathered inside the compound to press their demand for a special allowance.
During the demonstration, protesters confined Salehuddin Ahmed inside the Secretariat for nearly seven hours. He was later escorted home with police assistance.
The protesters withdrew their programme around 8:30 p.m. that night after receiving what they described as assurances that a government order approving the allowance would be issued.
When no such notification was issued by 3 p.m. the following day, the employees regrouped at the Secretariat, resuming slogan-chanting and announcing plans for a “full-day work abstention” from the next week.
Police initially detained five protesters during the renewed demonstration, later increasing the number of detainees to 14 as the situation intensified.
Government officials have said the suspensions were carried out in line with existing rules following judicial proceedings, while investigations into the incident remain ongoing.