Infighting lands BCL in shambles

Chaos and confrontation are also rife in the party's Dhaka University (DU) unit, a key unit of the front in which hall-based rival factions have been sucked into an unceasing war of attrition, resulting in six major clashes on the campus in as many months.

Annoyed at the developments, some senior members of the BCL have virtually distanced themselves from organisational activities and are busy with their business or personal agenda.

Sources said there were at least five main factions in the BCL central committee and four in the DU unit.

BCL President Liaqat Sikder leads a faction, while General Secretary Nazrul Islam Babu leads Dhaka metropolitan faction. Vice-President Rafiqul Islam Kotawal is the chief of Shariatpur-Madaripur group, Vice-President and former VP of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology Ashfaful Azim Rubon heads the northern regional faction and vice-presidents Baloram Podder and Anisur Rahman, Joint Secretary Alak Banik and Organising Secretary Khalilur Rahman jointly lead the Barisal faction.

Rivalry between Liaqat and Babu crept in during the constitution of different district, metropolitan and university committees and held back the formation of about 24 out of 84 such units across the country.

At least four factions are active in the student organisation's DU unit, the one-year tenure of which expired in July this year.

The groups are led by unit President Delwar Hossain, General Secretary Hemayet Uddin Khan, former Mohsin Hall unit president Shafiqur Rahman Shafique and expelled leader Abdul Wadud Khokon.

The conflict in the DU unit and hall units has gathered pace in the wake of the expiry of their tenure, sources said.

Because of factional fighting, the BCL failed to launch a movement against the four-party alliance government, a top BCL leader admitted.

Liaqat shrugged off the existence of rival factions in the student front, but admitted competition among leaders to rise through organisational ranks.

He said some leaders were not active in politics and seven were relived of their posts on the grounds.

The conflict in the DU committee is a spillover from the central committee, some BCL leaders said.

They said a conflict between the central committee president and the DU unit chief intensified following formation of the full-fledged DU unit committee last year and left a domino effect on the campus.

BCL central committee leaders now rarely visit the Dhaka University campus due to internal hostility that has made the unit virtually listless.

Internal factions are also ripe in the student body's DU hall units that play a vital role in campus politics.

Obaidul Kader, joint secretary of the AL, told the Daily Star that he sat with the BCL leaders and discussed the problems.

"We will overcome the problem soon and bring back an environment of cooperation and cohesion in the BCL politics," he said.