BCL yet to hold council:Daily Sun

  Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), the student wing of the ruling Awami League (AL), is yet to hold its council, although the tenure of the incumbent committee expired one year ago. Thus, BCL itself breaks rules of its own constitution and does not bother to follow the democratic norms. The last BCL council was held on July 10-11, 2011. HM Badiuzzaman Sohag and Siddique Nazmul Alam were elected BC
L president and general secretary during the council. As per BCL constitution, their tenure expired after July 11 last year. “The tenure of the central executive body is two years and council should be held within this period, otherwise the executive body will be nonexistent,” according to Article-11(B) of BCL constitution. Because of the phenomenon, BCL activities are being hampered to a great extent. A large number of young activists are eager to come to the leadership of the student organisation. They also expressed their dissatisfaction over the whims of the policy makers of the organisation, BCL sources said. Seeking anonymity, a BCL vice president, said the student organisation has finalized the maximum age limit of its leaders to 29 years. So, old leaders should leave the posts to give places to new leaders. Otherwise, young leaders will face deprivation, he said. As per Article 11(C) of BCL constitution, “In emergency period, the tenure of the executive body may be extended up to 3 months provided it is decided in the extended meeting of the central committee. Presidents, general secretaries of all organisational districts and central BCL members should be present in the meetings. But, BCL did not hold any meeting to resolve the crisis despite expiry of the incumbent committee, sources said. Many BCL leaders blamed lack of holding the council session for the present crisis. As a result, the image of the oldest student organization is being damaged. “If BCL central committee leaders do not follow the constitution of the organisation then it is very illogical that other units across the country will follow the constitution,” a BCL central leader requesting anonymity said. This is the reason that lots of BCL activists are involved in abduction and pursuing admission business and unhealthy politics on the campuses, he observed. Contacted, BCL general secretary Siddique Nazmul Alam said preparations are underway to hold the council of the organisation. “We have already started councils of all districts committees,” he also said. Sources said councils of the student organisation were held only in 27 organisational districts out of 101 districts. BCL is now being run by Shohag and Nazmul. They are forming unit committees consisting of people loyal to them to ensure their dominance over the student organisation, they said.