United News of Bangladesh

The Election Commission on Saturday (January 10, 2026) declared the candidature of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islam’s aspirant for Cox’s Bazar-2 AHM Hamidur Rahman Azad valid after hearing his appeal petition. Earlier, the returning officer concerned declared his nomination paper invalid during the scrutiny. The Election Commission, chaired by Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin, on Saturday started the hearing and disposal of the appeal petitions filed by the aggrieved aspirants, challenging the decisions of the returning officers over the cancellation and acceptance of nomination papers. During the first day of the nine-day hearing, the Commission heard the petition filed by Hamidur Rahman Azad and declared him as a valid candidate in the upcoming national election scheduled to be held on February 12 next. Read More: ATM Masum appointed convener, Abdul Halim as secretary of Jamaat election committee The hearing began at 10:00am at the Nirbachan Bhaban in the city’s Agargaon area. Some 70 petitions filed by aggrieved aspirants would be heard on Saturday. A total of 645 aspirants filed appeal petitions with the Election Commission before the deadline expired on Friday, challenging returning officers’ decisions on the rejection and acceptance of nomination papers. Most of the petitions were submitted from January 5 to 9 against the cancellation of nomination papers during the scrutiny. The Election Commission will hear and dispose of the petitions by January 18. Earlier during the five-day nomination paper scrutiny from December 30 to January 04, the 69 returning officers – two divisional commissioners (Dhaka and Chattogram), 64 district deputy commissioners and three regional election commissioners (Dhaka, Chattogram and Khulna) – declared that the nomination papers of a total of 1,842 candidates valid and that of 723 others invalid. A total of 2,568 aspirants submitted nomination papers for the country’s 300 constituencies by the December-29 deadline to contest the 13th parliamentary election. The Election Commission on December 11 announced the election schedule to arrange the national election and the referendum on the July National Charter (Constitutional Reform) Implementation Order simultaneously on February 12, 2026. Read More: EC thrashes reports of election postponement in Pabna-1, Pabna-2 According to the schedule, the last date for the withdrawal of candidature is January 20. The election campaign will start on January 22 and continue till 48 hours before the balloting period (7:30am on February 10).

Former Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) leaders have recounted the "violent politics" of Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat e Islami, on university campuses. Three former BCL leaders, who "survived the brutal attacks of Islami Chhatra Shibir," shared their experiences at a webinar Tuesday. Abul Kalam Azad, a former Chittagong University BCL leader, said: "On May 15, 1999, as I left the exam hall, an armed gang of Shibir activists waylaid me and whisked me away by brandishing weapons. They dragged me to a brick kiln and beat me up mercilessly." "A senior student rushed to save me and begged the attackers to spare me. As I tried to flee, the Shibir activists dragged me back and almost smashed my head with bricks." Diagnosed with haemorrhage, Azad had to spend two years in treatment in Dhaka and India's Chennai. "I still suffer from mental trauma 23 years after the attack and have to consult doctors," Azad said. Tonmoy Ahmed, a former Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) student, has 130 stitches all over his body after he and his friend were mercilessly hacked with machetes near his village home during Eid. "Amar Desh published a cooked-up story implicating me and Arif Raihan Dweep, my fellow junior at BUET, for beating up an imam at a mosque on the campus who supplied food to a group of Islamists. In reality, we had just complained to the university about how an imam can be allowed to serve meals to radicals when the meals were meant for the students." A few days after the Amar Desh report, Dweep was hacked by a fellow student in broad daylight in his dormitory, said Tonmoy. "The attacker Meshbahuddin confessed before the magistrate that provocative sermons from a preacher invoked him to kill Dweep." Following 84 days of a battle between life and death Dweep succumbed to his injuries, Tonmoy added. "Months later when I was at my village home at Palashbari on Eid vacation, venturing out with friends at night, a microbus bearing Dhaka Metro number plate flanked by some bike riders emerged near a deserted market and attacked me," recalled Tonmoy. Tonmoy was rushed to a hospital where he underwent surgery. Even after he survived the surgery, attempts were on to eliminate him. A Shibir activist of the Rangpur Medical University unit was picked up when trying to gather information about his ward, he added.