What's the political agenda of Chhatra League Foundation?
Chhatra League Foundation is an organization of former student leaders of Chhatra League. While its aims and objectives are purportedly social work, its actual agenda is political. It is not clear actually which leaders are involved with this organization as no one quite comes out into the open about it. The only two persons visibly active in Chhatra League Foundation are Nure Alam Siddiqui, a valiant student leader of the sixties, and Mahmudur Rahman Manna, the former JSD leader who has joined Awami League.
It has been learnt that the former student leaders of the sixties who are now financially solvent but politically on the shelf, have played a significant role in forming this organisation. Convenor of the Chhatra League Foundation Nure Alam Siddiqui recently visited London and held a meeting there with certain Bangladeshi businessmen of the Awami League ilk. They committed to support the organization. And back home, the reformists within Awami League are also supporting this foundation. However, other than Nure Alam Siddiqui and Mahmudur Rahman Manna, no one is openly speaking against mainstream Awami League. Even in the foundation's roundtable held on August 6 on the '15th Amendment and Present Politics', Nure Alam Siddiqui and Manna were the only prominent persons present. The participants were mostly of the civil society. Former President of Chhatra League Sultan Mohammed Mansur was invited, but didn't turn up.
Speaking to several former Chhatra League leaders, it learned that while Nure Alam Siddiqui was the Convenor of the foundation, it was Manna who was the driving force behind it. After 1/11, Manna had joined hands with the military-backed caretaker government and sided with the reformists. As a result, he fell from Sheikh Hasina's good books and presently he is a nobody in Awami League. He cannot even enter his own constituency due to opposition by the local Awami League activists. So Manna has now turned to the media to project himself. He is the anchor of a talk show Shomoyer Bhabna on ATN Bangla and also hosts the Bangla Vision programme about the daily newspapers and often appears in various talk shows of the other channels.
Sources claim that the Chhatra League Foundation has several political agendas. Sheikh Hasina had rendered many able political leaders inactive, labeling them as 'reformists'. This has put paid to their political careers. On the other hand, those who she has kept in prominent places like the cabinet and other sectors, are all displaying total failure. So one of the objectives of the foundation is to put pressure on the party's high command, showing that they are live and active, so that Hasina replaces the failed leaders with them.
The second agenda is to use their influence within the party to ensure they win nominations in the next parliamentary election. If that plans fails, the foundation leaders will form their own political party and participate in the polls.
Thirdly, they want to be ready to fill the inevitable political vacuum that may emerge if another 1/11-type situation arises.
While there is continuous efforts to get former Chhatra League leaders to join the foundation, most of these former student leaders are hesitant to commit themselves. One such leader, preferring to remain anonymous, tells PROBE, "Such an initiative outside the mainstream party is not likely to succeed. There are many instances of such moves in the past."
Another former Chhatra League leaders says that KM Jahangir, Mahmudur Rahman Manna, Sultan Mansur and several other political leaders have been phased out due to their reformist stand. They re not called to any of the party programmes. In short, they may still be part of the party, but the party doesn't own them anymore. That is why they are using the foundation to come to the limelight and make their presence felt. Most senior leaders of the party do not feel this will be a success.
http://www.probenewsmagazine.com/index.php?index=2&contentId=7343
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