Magura AL council now planned for March 31

The council was scheduled thrice in the last 14 months but could not be held due to internal feud. The last council was held in 1992.

Acting on a directive from AL General Secretary Abdul Jalil, district AL convener Altaf Hossain on Saturday announced the fresh date for the council, much to the delight of dedicated party leaders and workers.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

"In the district, top party posts are being held by same persons for years because council could not be held even nine 9 years after expiry of the committee. This must end. Dynamic leadership must come forward to strengthen the party and the ongoing oust-government movement", a leader seeking anonymity told this correspondent yesterday.

In the 1992 council, a committee was formed with Advocate Asaduzzaman MP and Altaf Hossain as president and general secretary.

After the death of Asaduzzaman in 1993, senior vice-president Abdul Kayum Mian was made acting president. This committee was dissolved on August 6, 2002 and a committee with Altaf Hossain as convener was formed to hold the council within three months. But it could not be held due to intra-party conflict, party insiders said.

They said rival leaders and activists at different levels are divided into two groups backed by convener Md Altaf Hossain and joint convener MS Akbar MP.

The internal feud surfaced in January last year when two rival factions clashed during party councils at several unions and upazilas. Both factions wanted their men in the leadership at different levels.

At least 14 incidents of clash took place between the rival groups in last one year.

The party high command summoned top district leaders to Dhaka on March 8 last year to resolve the dispute. Even, party chief Sheikh Hasina, at a meeting with the leaders in Dhaka, threatened to dissolve the district convening committee for its failure to hold a council.

But party chief's instruction went unheeded and the party split into two factions on September 7 last year.

The division became public when two rival factions brought out separate processions in the town protesting the August 21 grenade attack on Sheikh Hasina's rally in Dhaka.

Talking to The Daily Star, Altaf Hossain denied any intra-party conflict and said that the council could not be held due to the ongoing anti-government agitation. He however expressed the firm determination to hold the council on March 31.