New JCD committee coming soon; outgoing president, secretary bid farewell

A new central committee of the Bangladesh Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) is expected to be announced within the next one or two days, as outgoing President Rakibul Islam Rakib and General Secretary Nasir Uddin Nasir posted separate farewell messages on Facebook today (14 August), wishing best wishes for the next committee.

In his post, Rakib expressed gratitude to Almighty Allah, saying the best chapter of his life is coming to an end in a highly respectful and cordial environment.

He expressed gratitude to BNP Chairman and Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and late BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia for giving him the opportunity to serve in the JCD central committee and at Dhaka University for a long period.

Rakib also thanked outgoing BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, BNP Student Affairs Secretary Rakibul Islam Bakul, the party's senior leaders and former JCD leaders.

He said he personally tried to promote positive student politics on campuses out of special respect for students of all educational institutions.

The JCD leader said he paid particular attention to ensuring that no general student faced an unwanted situation on campus because of JCD activists.

Even when students outside his organisation approached him with various problems, he tried to resolve them from his position, he said.

He also thanked leaders of fellow student organisations for their role in the anti-fascist movement.

Assessing the performance of the Rakib-Nasir committee, the outgoing president said its major success was formulating programmes in coordination with the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement during the July uprising and playing an effective and heroic role on the streets.

He said after 5 August, 2024, they had to confront hundreds of mob incidents at educational institutions while also continuing to lead the organisation despite persistent bullying on social media.

Rakib said after leaving office, he wants to start a new life and develop himself into a more refined, humane and honest person.

Admitting that nobody is free from mistakes, he said he might also have made mistakes during his long tenure and requested those whom he may have hurt to forgive him.

He also expressed hope that everyone will warmly welcome the upcoming new JCD committee.

Meanwhile, outgoing JCD General Secretary Nasir said his political career began during the difficult period of the 1/11 political crisis and that, after 17 years of uncertainty, they were now standing in a different Bangladesh.

He said the journey has not been easy and has marked by struggle, sacrifice, repression, enforced disappearances and killings.

He paid deep respect and expressed gratitude to all leaders and activists who were victims of enforced disappearance, murder and repression during the period, saying their sacrifices had laid the foundation for the organisation's present position.

Saying Thursday (13 August) was his final day as JCD general secretary, Nasir described the end of his tenure as the conclusion of a long, difficult, eventful and glorious chapter.

He said more than 2,000 organisational committees were formed during their tenure, describing it as the collective result of the hard work of activists at all levels rather than the achievement of any individual.

However, Nasir admitted that there were some shortcomings.

He expressed full confidence in the incoming leadership and said he will remain by their side as before if they need him.