A group of members of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association on Saturday demanded dissolution of the current boards of the BGMEA and BGMEA University of Fashion and Technology.
They claimed that the BGMEA leadership had failed to provide adequate guidance to its members who faced operational challenges during the political upheaval and the ongoing flood crisis following a change in government.
The demand was made during a press conference held under a banner of general members of the BGMEA at Sonargaon Hotel in the city.
Mozammel Hoque Bhuiyan, a BGMEA member, accused the current board 鈥� formerly led by SM Mannan Kochi and recently succeeded by Khandoker Rafiqul Islam 鈥� of securing their positions through vote rigging and manipulating the voter list.
He also alleged that former parliament member Salam Murshedy, industry and commerce affairs secretary of Awami League Siddiqur Rahman and Dhaka North City Corporation mayor Md Atiqul Islam were involved in the alleged vote rigging, leveraging their positions to influence the election outcome.
Mozammel called for immediate resignation and dissolution of the BGMEA board and proposed the formation of an interim, non-political board to oversee fair elections with an updated and legitimate voter list.聽
He said that a writ petition concerning 400 alleged fake voters was filed with the High Court during the recently concluded BGMEA elections but the then attorney general allegedly sided with the government-backed Sammilita Parishad panel.
Regarding BUFT, he said that the educational institution was originally established with funds contributed by BGMEA members.
However, certain influential leaders within the trade body, who have close ties to the Awami
League, converted it into a trust board and effectively treated it as their personal property, Mozammel claimed.
He further mentioned that seven out of nine members of BUFT鈥檚 board of trustees were currently fugitives, following ousting of the Awami League government by the student-led mass uprising.
Ananta Garments Limited managing director Inamul Haq Khan and Asian Group executive director Khandaker Belayet Hossain were among the speakers at the event.
