BNP senior leader Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain on Monday said his party will make Cumilla a division in the days to come, naming it after the district itself, if this interim government fails to do so.
“Cumilla must be made a division on administrative grounds and the people of Cumilla will not accept any other name,” he said while speaking at a discussion at the Jatiya Press Club.
Mosharraf, a BNP Standing Committee member, said a strong delegation will be sent to the interim government to press for the demand.
He also called for forming a committee to pursue the matter, assuring his full personal cooperation.
“If, despite these efforts, we cannot convince the interim government, then as a senior leader from Cumilla I want to assure the people that—if the people of Bangladesh bring BNP to power in the next election and once BNP assumes office—Cumilla Division will be established without delay,” Mosharraf said.
Nagarik Parishad Cumilla, Greater Cumilla Samity Dhaka and Cumilla Samity Dhaka jointly arranged the programme at the Jatiya Press Club to press for the demand.
The BNP leader said the people of Cumilla have already rejected other names for the division. “We, the citizens of Cumilla, want a division in the name of Cumilla only. No government can impose another name.”
Mosharraf said the people of Cumilla can even take to the Dhaka-Chattogram highway to press their demand, but they are still holding back to give the government time.
He expressed the hope that the interim government will respond positively and implement it without delay.
The BNP leader alleged that despite repeated movements, the previous Awami League government did not implement Cumilla Division, rather tried to push alternative names using various excuses.
National Citizen Party (NCP) Chief Organiser (southern region) Hasnat Abdullah, Greater Cumilla Samity Dhaka president ABM Shahjahan, Nagarik Parishad Cumilla president Dr Shah Mohammad Selim, Brahmanbaria district BNP president Enamul Haque Babul, former additional secretary Abdul Mannan Elias and Advocate Abbas Uddin were, among others, present at the programme.