Nagorik committee: Members split over ex-Shibir leader joining

Jatiya Nagorik Committee has included a former top leader of Islami Chhatra Shibir in its extended central committee, ignoring objections from a section of committee members.
During a general meeting on Friday, the committee members were divided on the inclusion of Ali Ahsan Zonaed, a former president of Shibir’s Dhaka University unit.
“The general meeting [on Friday] decided to form a seven-member search committee to finalise the [central committee’s] extension, but 45 names were announced [on Monday] without any further discussion,” said a member of the committee.
Zonaed, a former student of Women and Gender Studies department of DU, led the DU unit’s activities underground. He was one of the secretariat members of Shibir’s central committee before he joined the Nagorik committee, said a source.
Samantha Sharmeen, spokesperson of the Nagorik committee, said, “No one has been included because of their post or position in any other parties. All are equal here and have been incorporated for their contributions during the days of the uprising.”
She denied that there were any division among the members on the inclusion of any particular person.
“The decision of the extension was unanimous,” she said, adding that it was not the time for divisions and that they wanted to include all anti-fascist groups.
There is no denying that Shibir men played an important role during the anti-fascist movement, she said.
She, however, said the Nagorik committee has a stance that Jamaat-Shibir as parties must make it abundantly clear their role in 1971 if they want to be in politics hence forth.
“People are only being included in our committee after they have resigned from their previous party posts,” she added.
She said they included all sorts of people in the extended committee irrespective of their ideologies, including people from Chattra Dal, Chattra Shibir, Chattra Federation, Chattra Union, independent candidates of the 2019 election to Dhaka University Central Students’ Union, journalists, female representatives, and indigenous communities.
Insiders said Zonaed played a key role in the quota reforms movement from behind the scenes. He was one of those who joined Prof Muhammad Yunus’ swearing in ceremony.
Contacted, Zonaed said he left Shibir in 2020 and joined a research firm.
“We had contacts with key organisers of the quota reforms movement in July and I joined in person when it turned into an anti-government protest,” he said.
About conducting underground politics during the Awami League regime, he said they were forced to do so as the then government created an atmosphere of fear by putting their leaders behind bars and torturing them out of vengeance.
The extended Nagorik committee now has 107 members and around 8-10 of them are former Shibir leaders.
Most of the people included in the committee on Monday were known faces.
Of them, Sarjis Alam was one of the faces of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement; Sk Tasnim Afroz Emi is a former vice president of DU’s Shamsunnahar Hall union; Umme Habiba Benojir is a former Chattra Federation president of DU unit; Auroni Semonti Khan is a former independent VP candidate of DUCSU; Mir Arshadul Hoque is a former VP of Dhaka University Journalists’ Association; Debashish Chakrabarty, an artist; and Syeda Nilima Dola, a cultural activist.