100 members boycott Barisal Bar dinner

District BNP President and Mayor Advocate Majibur Rahman Sarwar MP attended the function as chief guest. Sarwar is also a members of the Bar Association.

Invitation to Sarwar and the boycott created a commotion among members ahead of the Bar Association election, held on Sunday.

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Sources said, many apolitical members and those supporting opposition political parties had opposed the decision taken by the Bar Association Secretary to invite a Bar member to be the chief guest at the dinner.

Usually, the District and Session Judge is made the chief guest, they said.

When contacted, advocate Nazrul Islam Razon, outgoing secretary of the Bar and district BNP secretary, told The Daily Star that there was no constitutional bar to invite a Bar member to be the chief guest at the annual dinner.

Earlier, advocate Abdur Rahman Biswas and advocate Abul Hasnat Abdullah, both members of the Bar, were honored by the organization, he claimed.

But advocate Manabendra Batobayal, outgoing president of the Bar refuted this and said, "A 125-year-old tradition is nothing less than a constitutional provision".

He said Biswas and Hasanat were never made chief guest at annual dinner of the Bar. They were given receptions.

In the polls, the pro-alliance panel got seven posts including that of the president. Shakhawat Hossain Jummon was elected president. The pro-opposition panel bagged the rest of the 24 posts including that of the general secretary. AKM jahangir alam was elected general secretary.