The newly emerged student organisation, Bangladesh Gonotantrik Chhatra Sangsad, announced its full central committee on Thursday.
The organisation’s convener, Abu Bakar Mazumdar, announced the names at a press conference at Modhur Canteen of Dhaka University at 4:30 pm.
'././"During the announcement, he described Wednesday’s clash as “unexpected” and expressed regret over the incident.
The 205-member committee features Abu Bakar Mazumdar, a coordinator of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, as the convener. Zahid Ahsan, the office secretary of ADSM, is the member secretary.
Tahmid Al Mudassir took on the role of chief organiser, while Ashrefa Khatun will serve as the spokesperson. The central joint conveners included Touhid Mohammad Siam, Nurul Gani Sagir, and Jubayer Hossain. The committee comprises students from public, private, and national universities.
However, during the organisation’s inauguration on Wednesday, Rifat Rashid was appointed as the senior joint member secretary of the central committee. Later, he voluntarily withdrew from the committee, according to convener Abu Bakar.
Before announcing the committee, Abu Bakar said, “We have engaged in discussions with students about the ideal structure of a student organisation in a new Bangladesh. Students no longer want student politics dependent on affiliations with major political parties. Therefore, we have decided that our organisation will never follow such practices. The leadership of this student organisation will be elected democratically, and we will enforce a specific age limit for members.”
The central committee had set a maximum age limit of 28 years. Students could hold leadership positions for a maximum of seven years after enrolling in a university.
He added, “Yesterday (Wednesday), an unexpected incident disrupted the inauguration of our student organisation, and we regret it. We do not want such incidents to occur again. We have made every effort to resolve the issue. A group arrived and caused trouble, preventing us from announcing the full committee yesterday.”
Reaffirming the organisation’s commitment, Abu Bakar also said, “We want to make it clear that our organisation will uphold the spirit of July uprising, for which students sacrificed their lives, to fulfil their dreams and aspirations. Since we cannot include everyone in the central committee, we encourage students to join different units accordingly.”