Rivals ‘attack’ members of Swadhinata Parishad

BGMEA election on Apr 06

FE Report | Published: March 02, 2019 23:01:15 | Updated: March 03, 2019 19:03:07

Swadhinata Parishad alleged on Saturday that at least five of its members were attacked during submission of nomination papers for the upcoming BGMEA board of directors' election.
The new platform of some members of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has fielded candidates in the April 06 election.
According to the election schedule, March 02 was the last day for nomination submissions for the polls. The last date for withdrawal is March 06.
The BGMEA has a total of 1,956 voters-1,597 from Dhaka and 359 from Chattogram.
Until 8:30 pm on Saturday, the BGMEA board published a preliminary list of 58 candidates-48 from Dhaka and 10 from Chattogram.
Sources said 23 nomination papers from Forum, 17 from Sammilita Parishad and 18 from Swadhinata Parishad were submitted to the election board until 12 noon.
Soon after the untoward incident, Swadhinata Parishad formed a human chain outside its Karwanbazar office, demanding punishment for the attackers.
"Around 10.00 am we went to the BGMEA office with nomination papers for submission to the board," said Jahangir Alam, convener of the panel.
"We left the place keeping our representatives to obtain receipts. But some people attacked them while they were leaving with receipts. The attackers snatched the documents," he told the event. At least five persons were injured in the attack, Mr Alam claimed.
The injured are MH Moshtaque Chowdhury, Shahidul Islam, Shahjahan Sheikh, Atinur Rahman and Md Akram Ali.
Mr Moshtaque alleged that a group of people, led by BGMEA member Ahad Ali Ansary, beat them up.
Binning the allegation, Mr Ansary said he was fully unaware of such an incident at the BGMEA office.
When asked, BGMEA president Md Siddiqur Rahman said he had no knowledge of such an incident happened on the compound of the association.
"Till now I didn't receive any complaint from anyone, but the media sought my comment on it," he said.
Candidates from Sammilita Parishad are SM Mannan Kochi, Mohammed Nasir, Munir Hossain, Arshad Jamal Dipu, Mashiul Azam Sajal, Sazzadur Rahman Mirdha, Mosharraf Hossain Dhali, Masud Kader, Rafiqul Islam, Miran Ali, Nasir Uddin, Mohiuddin Rubel, Anjan Shekhar Das, AM Chowdhury Selim, Mohammed Meraj-E-Mostafa, Rakibul Alam Chowdhury and Mohammed Musa.
Forum submitted 23 papers of Rubana Huq, Md Shahidul Islam, Iqbal Hamid Quraishi Adnan, Maashed Rumman Abdullah, MA Rahim, Rezwan Selim, Faisal Samad, Inamul Haq Khan, Rafez Alam Chowdhury, Anowar Hossain, Shehabuddin Chowdhury, Md Shehabuddin Chowdhury, Shahidul Haque Mukul, Nazrul Islam, Mohammad Abdul Momen, AKM Badiul Alam, Sharif Zahir, Asif Ibrahim, Kamal Uddin, Mohammed Abdus Salam, Mohammad Atique, Enamul Aziz Chowdhury, Khondaker Belayet Hossain and AM Mahbub Chowdhury.
Candidates from Swadhinata Parishad are Md Jahangir Alam, Md Delwar Hossain, Humayun Rashid, Saiful Islam, Zahid Hasan, Mahmud Hussain, Kazi Mahzabin Momtaz, Hasan Sabbir Mahmud, Shariful Alam Chowdhury, Khondaker Faridul Akbar, Ayesha Akter, Md Jahangir Kabir, Kazi Abdus Sobhan, Omar Nazim Hekmat, Md Waliullah, S Shahiduzzaman Chayan, Md Showkat Hossain and Jahirul Islam.
Two panels, Sammilita Parishad and Forum, traditionally compete for BGMEA leadership.
Swadhinata Parishad, which was formed last year, started campaigning for the election.
The incumbent board under Siddiqur's leadership took over for a two-year term on September 22, 2015, through negotiations Sammilita Parishad and Forum. Sammilita Parishad holds 19 posts of the directorship, including the presidency, and Forum 16 posts.
The BGMEA is being run by a 35-member board of directors, including seven vice-presidents.
Despite its two-year tenure, the existing board still remains in office for more than three years and a half as the government extended its tenure thrice. As per negotiations, the Forum was supposed to take the BGMEA's leadership for the next term.
Industry insiders, however, said Mohammadi Group managing director Rubana Huq is going to be the president candidate from the Forum.
The BGMEA started with only 12 members in 1978. Currently, it has some 4,300 member factories, according to its official website.
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