AL gen secretary gives CU BCL ultimatum to solve feud

Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader has given a three-month ultimatum to the leaders of Chittagong University unit of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), to solve their internal feuding and urged the vice chancellor not to be partisan.

During a meeting at the house of Chittagong city unit AL President ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury on Sunday, he asked VC Prof Dr Iftekher Uddin Chowdhury why clashes occur frequently on the campus, said BCL leaders.

He urged the VC not to spare the BCL leaders who violate law.

“Why do the BCL leaders clash over tender? Why don't you go for e-tender? Why do you need to care about BCL leaders? Have they made you VC? You are the VC; you should not be partisan,” said a BCL leader in attendance quoted Quader as telling the VC. “In reply, the VC said he already initiated e-tender.”

Following instructions of Obaidul, the BCL leaders of Chittagong city and CU units took initiatives to “solve their internal feud”.

CU unit BCL will sit on Thursday in this regard.

“Obaidul Quader Sir is the general secretary of our mother organisation, so there is no way of being in BCL defying his instruction,” Fazly Rabby Sujan, general secretary of CU unit BCL, told The Daily Star yesterday. “We called a meeting on Thursday where we will convey his message to the activists.”

Asked whether it is possible to resolve their internal feud within the timeframe, Sujan said, “We will definitely introduce something positive within the time limit.”

Although Sujan was present at the meeting with Quader, the president of CU unit BCL Alamgir Tipu did not attend.

Contacted, Tipu said he was “severely ill” on Sunday, so he could not attend.

He said Sujan contacted him after the meeting and conveyed the message of Quader. “Sujan and I do not have any feud. In fact, we have a very close relationship,” he said. “A few overenthusiastic activists are responsible for clashes on the campus.”

“We have a thousand activists but at most 10-15 of them are responsible for the clashes,” he said. “We will identify them and take disciplinary action.”

Quader, also minister for road communications and bridges, instructed the city unit BCL to resolve internal feud and form committees in colleges, according to BCL insiders. He expressed resentment over the BCL factional clashes, they said.

Contacted, Nurul Azim Rony, general secretary of Chittagong city unit BCL, said no incumbent BCL leader was engaged in clashes or any misdeeds. “Those who are doing misdeeds are either opportunists or expelled from BCL,” he said. “The administration should take tough action against them.”

Rony said after the instruction of Quader, he and his president had a discussion and they decided to form committees in different colleges immediately.

“There are some problems in Chittagong College and Mohsin College, and we will resolve the problems immediately,” he said.

BCL leaders said Quader also urged the high officials of Chittagong police, who attended the meeting, to take tough action against the law violators, regardless of their identity.

Around 30 violent incidents occurred from January to December in the city and different educational institutions because of intra-BCL rivalry over establishing supremacy and tender issues, said BCL sources. 

A BCL leader of Premier University Chittagong was killed by his rivals on the campus on March 29, while a CU student was killed during a BCL factional clash on December 14, 2014. In addition, numerous clashes broke out on different occasions.