Politics

BNP leader Faisal Alim alleges irregularities in Joypurhat laptops and fertiliser

The national executive committee member said laptops meant for July fighters were 'divided and eaten' and that fertiliser dealerships went to relatives, setting off debate inside the party.

ScrollBeat DeskPublished: 18 Oct 2026, 11:00

File photo of a Bangladesh Nationalist Party rally in Dhaka. Credit: Jubair Bin Iqbal, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 Jubair Bin Iqbal, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0

A member of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party's national executive committee has alleged irregularities in the free distribution of laptops to July uprising fighters in Joypurhat and in the appointment of fertiliser dealers.

Faisal Alim raised the allegations in a Facebook post on Saturday evening, 17 October. In it, he said laptops meant to be handed out had been shared among a group instead of reaching the intended recipients. “They divided the laptops and ate them among themselves,” he wrote.

He claimed that 20 to 30 per cent had been “eaten” in various sectors over the past six months, and said the practice had stopped only because little was left. He also questioned the fertiliser dealerships, saying they went to relatives of those involved, some in the names of mothers-in-law or brothers-in-law, while party leaders and activists who had been persecuted did not get a chance.

The Joypurhat district council recently distributed laptops free of charge among July fighters, and Alim's post concerned that programme.

Contacted by phone, Alim said people in Joypurhat knew who had shared out the laptops, and knew about the percentages in various projects. He said his post was not against the party but in its interest, and that the party chairman and prime minister, Tareque Rahman, does not tolerate irregularities or corruption. He did not name specific people, projects or documents.

The post drew mixed reactions. One commenter, Tarik Hossain Khan, said more remained to be “eaten” and that members and chairmen were being sold, without offering evidence. Belal Hossain criticised Alim, saying his own performance as a central leader should also be discussed and that such posts create division and infighting. Jillur Rahman said the remarks could serve Jamaat's propaganda and blamed Alim for the defeat of BNP candidate Masud Rana Pradhan, again without evidence.

Golzar Hossain, convener of the Joypurhat district BNP, said he had read the post and that its tone left a bad taste, while noting that others who also posted had not been treated the same way.

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ScrollBeat Desk18 Oct 2026, 12:02Open this article

A Bornean orangutan in Kalimantan, Indonesia (file photo). Conservation teams have evacuated dozens of orangutans from fires in the province since August 2026. Photo: Ridwan0810 / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0. Ridwan0810, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

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Prime Minister Tarique Rahman presents National Standard to seven army units

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ScrollBeat Desk18 Oct 2026, 11:58Open this article

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman addressing an Armed Forces programme at Dhaka Cantonment on 12 April 2026 (file photo). Photo: Press Information Department, Government of Bangladesh, via Wikimedia Commons. Press Information Department (PID), Government of Bangladesh, via Wikimedia Commons

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman presented the National Standard to seven units of the Bangladesh Army at Savar Cantonment on Sunday, recognising their contribution to professional excellence and their roles in wartime and peacetime.

The units honoured this year were the President Guard Regiment, 7 Field Regiment Artillery, 32 Field Regiment Artillery, 25 Air Defence Regiment, 9 Engineer Battalion, 56 East Bengal Regiment and 57 East Bengal Regiment. The ceremony was organised by the 9th Infantry Division.

The prime minister was given an armed salute on arrival. Chief of Army Staff General Waker-Uz-Zaman, cabinet ministers and advisers, members of the diplomatic corps, and serving and former military officers attended.

In his address, Tarique Rahman said the strength of an armed force did not lie only in its weapons, equipment or numbers, but in discipline, skill, leadership, morality, training and public trust. He told officers and soldiers to remain committed to the Constitution, the law, military regulations and humanitarian values.

He said modern warfare increasingly involves cyberspace, outer space, drones, artificial intelligence, electronic warfare and information-based capabilities, and that Bangladesh's defence preparedness had to keep pace. The government, he added, was working to make the forces more technology-driven, skilled and professional, and to build a domestic defence industry for weapons and equipment.

Technology could never replace people, the prime minister said, calling for an integrated defence capability in which the Army, Navy and Air Force could act together when needed.

On welfare, he said the government was giving weight to housing, healthcare, education, training and post-retirement security for military personnel. Salaries and allowances had been raised by 100 to 138 percent under the National Pay Scale, and the 'One Rank, One Pension' system was being implemented, he said.

Tarique Rahman said the army's history was bound up with the country's independence, recalling the role of Ziaur Rahman, then deputy commander of the Eighth East Bengal Regiment, in Chattogram after the crackdown of 25 March 1971 and his declaration of independence from Kalurghat radio the following week.

He said protecting national interests, sovereignty and dignity would remain a core commitment, and that Bangladesh wanted to strengthen friendship and cooperation with all countries on the basis of mutual respect and equality.