No government interference in BCB election, says Aminul Islam as elections to be held on October 6 after plenty of controversy.
Aminul Islam says no government interference in BCB election.
According to BCB President Aminul Islam, he conducted last month’s election in accordance with the board’s constitution. His remarks were in connection to a letter he sent on September 18 to the nation’s sports secretary, asking them to submit new nomination forms for councillors and to revoke the ones that had already been submitted.
Aminul’s letter was contested in a writ case, and on September 22, the nation’s High Court issued a decision and an interim injunction that suspended the letter’s efficacy.
Justice Farah Mahbub, the appellate division’s chamber judge, decided on Sunday that the High Court’s suspension decision will stand. It sets the stage for the October 6 BCB election, which will be marred by scandal and involve manipulation and meddling.
Aminul clarified that he had sent the letter because he had not had enough names of cricket players or organisers from the various districts and divisions across the nation.
Aminul’s statement
“I want to clarify one thing. There was a writ against my letter,” Aminul said. “The letters that were addressed to me as the BCB president had mentioned clearly the three important areas in the BCB election. The chairman of the district or divisional sports body, who is usually the district or divisional administrator, has to sign it. Since these sports bodies don’t exist now, there are ad-hoc committees which must have a cricketer and an organiser in the body.
“When these lists reached me, I saw only three [districts/divisions] qualified [in the criteria]. Shariatpur and Jamalpur were among those that qualified. So we couldn’t do an election with three individuals. I was forced to send the letter [on September 18], based on the constitution. Thereafter, there was a writ against the letter. It was cleared today. This election is such that a lot of things came against my name. I want to defend myself [by saying] that I was always within the constitution.”
Aminul also ruled out government influence or interference and said that the country’s sports adviser was trying to “ensure a fair election”.
“I don’t remember exactly when I said that the sports adviser requested me [to participate in the elections]. The sports adviser always helped me during my tenure [as BCB president]. I want to thank him for it,” Aminul said. “He is a person at the ministerial level but I know that he spent night and day, going to different places so that we can have a fair election and we can form a good board.
“I didn’t think there was any influence. I feel I need to continue for Bangladesh cricket. If anyone feels I am not good enough, I am ready to leave any time.”