A faction of Bangladesh Sadharon Chhatra Odhikar Parishad on Thursday announced a new 22-member convener committee from a press conference arranged at National Press Club's Zahur Hussain Chowdhury hall.
The new fraction backed by Jagannath University activists of the forum named APM Suhel the new convener and Ismail Samrat (Dhaka College) the member secretary. The new faction comprises more 14 as joint conveners, one joint secretary, three members and two advisers.
The new faction declared the key leaders persona-non-grata including former vice-president (VP) of Dhaka University Central Students' Union (Ducsu) also the joint convener of the platform Nurul Haque Nur, acting convener Muhammad Rashed Khan from the press conference.
Chhatra Odhikar Parishad broke down due to allegation of Nur-Rashed’s ‘dirty politics’ as well as financial opacity, undemocratic organizational management, and dirty politicisation encircling the recent rape case of a Dhaka University female student.
While reading out a statement at the press conference Ismail Samrat said, "We are emerging in the previous name with our organisation as the forum moved away from the main goal besides involving in nasty politics, financial scandals, autocracy and undemocratic attitude."
He also said the situation has become so severe that the Dhaka University student’s rape case has been politicised and the victim has been attacked on social media. This case would have been a political case if everyone in the organisation had not known about it long ago.
APM Suhel said, ‘We have taken this decision in protest against the dirty politics, lack of financial transparency, running the organisation undemocratically, and the recent attempt to politicise the rape case of a DU student by deviating from the original goals and objectives’.
Meanwhile, the new committee, in a press release said that the main goal and objective of the Bangladesh Sadharon Chhatra Odhikar Songrokkhon Parishad was to work for the welfare of the country and the people as a political-social organisation.
The name of the organisation was shortened at the inauguration ceremony of its third founding year on 17 February 2020, amid opposition from many who are now in the new committee. After the expiration of Ducsu's term, with an initiative of Sadharon Chhatra Odhikar Parishad, three affiliated organisations -- Bangladesh Jubo Odhikar Parishad, Sharimik Odhikar Parishad and Prabasi Odhikar Parishad -- were formed with the intention of doing politics in a hurry. The aims and objectives of these organisations are still unknown to us. As a result, resentment within the organisation accumulated and the grassroots leaders of the organisation opposed it, press release said.
When asked about the split in the organisation, former Ducsu VP Nur said to media, "Apart from APM Suhel, none of the members of the new organisation's committee were in my organisation. And Suhel had already been expelled from the organisation. Everyone has the democratic right to form a new organisation and people will judge which is real and which is fake.”