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A.L. leader close to Quader becomes BNP overnight
After the fall of the Awami League government, BNP took a strict stance as a party to prevent infiltration, but there have been allegations of rehabilitating some Awami League leaders who were looking for opportunities in Companiganj, Noakhali, to BNP.
In the changed situation, the field-level leaders of the ousted Awami League have tried to change their colors and flock to BNP. This list includes at least a dozen leaders and activists of the Awami League and its affiliate organizations. This incident has caused dissatisfaction among the grassroots workers in addition to local BNP leaders.
One of them is Awami League leader Abdus Sattar. He is known to be close to the family of Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader and is his close neighbor. After the change of color, his relationship with some BNP leaders has increased. The issue of infiltration into BNP came to the attention of grassroots leaders and workers after BNP’s joint rural development and cooperative affairs secretary Bazlul Karim Chowdhury Abed and district BNP’s newly elected member secretary Harunur Rashid Azad shared several photos of Awami League leader Sattar on Facebook. BNP leaders faced widespread criticism for this. This has led to widespread mixed reactions and a storm of discussion and criticism in the political arena of the upazila.
It was learned from talking to party leaders and workers that Abdus Sattar was the vice-president of the Sirajpur Union Awami League in the upazila. He was also known to be close to Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader’s younger brother, Companiganj Upazila Awami League President and former Mayor of Basurhat Municipality Abdul Quader Mirza, and one of his helmet forces, Sirajpur Union Parishad Chairman and Union Awami League General Secretary Nazim Uddin Mikon. He had deep ties with Quader Mirza’s helmet forces. Sattar’s younger brother, Obaidul Quader, was the political funder of Abdul Quader Mirza, the president of the local Awami League and former mayor of Basurhat Municipality, Companiganj Upazila Awami League.
It is learned that on Tuesday night, a local media worker from Companiganj Upazila posted a photo on his Facebook account of prominent businessman, politician and social worker Alhaj Abdus Sattar meeting Bazlul Karim Chowdhury Abed, the BNP Central Committee’s Co-Secretary for Rural Development and Cooperative Affairs, at the BNP Central Office in Nayapaltan. In an instant, the photo of Bazlul Karim Chowdhury Abed, the BNP Central Committee’s Co-Secretary for Rural Development and Cooperative Affairs, with Awami League leader Abdus Sattar went viral on Facebook. He appeared with flowers to the recently announced district BNP member secretary Harunur Rashid Azad. The grassroots leaders and activists of the upazila BNP reacted quite angrily and expressed their anger over the matter through various media, including Facebook.
When asked about the allegations, Abdus Sattar denied the allegations of holding positions in the Awami League and said, “Those who have commented are younger brothers. Let many others comment. I have been a member of the Chhatra Dal since school, and I was in charge of the college Chhatra Dal and the union. Awami League people are saying that he did not belong to our party. We have some very enthusiastic younger brothers whom I love.”
Nurul Alam Sikder, convener of the Companiganj Upazila BNP, said, “It is true that Sattar was involved in Awami League politics. He was on Obaidul Quader’s stage, he was on the Awami League stage. Some of us may have been involved in bringing Sattar to the BNP. But I have no involvement. I have thrown Sattar out of 2-3 meetings. The most authentic thing is that our Abed brother was distributing relief in Shahjadpur village of Sirajpur union. When he went to stand by us, I threw him out of there.” After that, I threw him out from 2-1 places. Then I saw that many of us were unhappy after I threw him out. What should I do later, I can’t be with 50 people alone.
Noakhali District BNP Member Secretary Harunur Rashid Azad’s mobile phone was called, but he did not answer the phone. So, no comment was received from him on this matter.
When asked about this, Bazlul Karim Chowdhury Abed, the Central Committee’s Deputy Rural Development and Cooperative Affairs Secretary, said, that person came to Dhaka to invite me to a waz mahfil and took a picture with me. When the Trinamool reacted to this, I asked Upazila BNP convener Nurul Alam Sikder. The things that are coming out were done by Sattar Awami League. If this is true, then why are the union, municipality, and police station leaders making him attend various programs? Then why were these not resolved earlier? Why did he come to me? Why did he give flowers to the newly formed district BNP committee. The Upazila BNP convener has been told that if the Awami League did the sattar, it is true. Then our leaders and workers will feel hurt and react, so we will not go for any such action.
