Hasina’s secret Zoom meeting from India exposes intelligence failure in Jhenaidah
Asif Kajol, from Jhenaidah
Ms. Sheikh Hasina, the former Prime Minister who was ousted in the mass uprising and is President of the Awami League, has held a secret virtual Zoom meeting from Indian soil. She spoke for several hours with leaders and activists of the Jhenaidah 4 (Kaliganj) seat. She slipped past the watch of law enforcement agencies and several state intelligence agencies. In the meeting, she named Ms. Shamim Ara Mannan, wife of late former MP Mr. Abdul Mannan, as President of the Kaliganj Upazila Awami League. That post had been vacant for a long time. She named Mr. Ayub Hossain as General Secretary.
The online meeting began at 3 pm the day before yesterday. More than 300 leaders and activists from the 15 unions of Kaliganj Upazila joined in turns. Awami League leaders confirmed that Ms. Sheikh Hasina connected with nearly 2,000 grassroots leaders and activists of Kaliganj this way. But the local and district intelligence offices had no information at all about this sensitive and politically heated Zoom meeting. The administration and civil society are in uproar because the intelligence agencies had no advance information and failed to track the long running secret platform.
A powerful leader of the Kaliganj Upazila Awami League joined the meeting. He confirmed that it happened, on condition of anonymity. He said Ms. Sheikh Hasina gave a strict message to rebuild and organize the party at the grassroots. At the start of the meeting, Ms. Sheikh Hasina said, “We do not want to lose anyone again like Mr. Anar. We must organize the party well and strike back if we are hit.”
In her instructions, she asked them to go door to door in the villages and tell people about the many crises of the present government. She especially asked them to spread the news widely about the rise in fuel oil prices, the power and gas breakdown and the severe fertilizer shortage. Each union got the chance to send three set representatives to speak virtually in the meeting. The news of this high profile meeting, which ran for a long time, spread on social media after the evening the day before yesterday. Several local Awami leaders shared posts about it on their Facebook accounts, and this brought it into public view. They include Advocate Rigan, a former Chhatra League leader and former municipal councilor, Awami League supporter Mr. Mostak Ahmed Lovlu and Mr. Alal Hossain.
After the news spread on Facebook, the whole district was in uproar. But the intelligence branch of the district police was in the dark about all of it. Many questions have come up about such a serious lapse in state security and watch, and about the intelligence failure. Jhenaidah Superintendent of Police (SP) Mr. Mia Mohammad Ashis Bin Hasan was contacted at night. He said he knew nothing about it. He said they have no information about any such political Zoom meeting or secret gathering. But he said the news has been spreading on several Facebook accounts since the night the day before yesterday. He said they have received some information about it and are checking whether it is true.
Jhenaidah District BNP General Secretary Mr. Zahiduzzaman Mona said they have also started to look into the matter. He said he has spoken with Kaliganj BNP leaders about it. He said such secret activities of a banned party will not be allowed to continue in any way.
