FROM PAGE 12

the party’s credibility and weaken public trust.

Meanwhile, the leadership is also concerned about outsiders using the party’s name to influence local disputes, pursue personal interests, or engage in misconduct.

Local leaders have been urged to stay alert in this regard and take action if the BNP’s name is used for intimidation, extortion, factional feuds, or other abuses.

Syed Emran Saleh Prince said, “There are many who are not members but are using the party’s name to engage in unethical acts -- we are taking immediate action against them too.”

Additionally, internal clashes within the BNP and its affiliated bodies have emerged as another major concern, as party leaders said repeated factional confrontations are weakening grassroots discipline and risking long-term damage to public confidence in the party.

Human rights data cited by party sources illustrate the scale of the problem.

According to Ain o Salish Kendra, 28 incidents of BNP infighting in February left 186 people injured and three dead. The organisation also recorded one clash involving Jubo Dal and Chhatra Dal that left one person dead.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Support Society reported 88 internal clashes in March.

Party leaders said such figures have reinforced the high command’s view that the problem can no longer be ignored. They warned that if factional conflict continues unchecked, it could damage both the party organisation and the government’s standing.

A senior BNP leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the party aims to reorganise itself ahead of the local government polls to restore organisational discipline and strengthen it at all levels.

Among the steps taken against misconduct was the expulsion of a father and son on April 14 over their alleged involvement in a political dispute that led to a clash in Mymensingh’s Bhaluka upazila.

A central BNP press release identified them as upazila BNP convening committee member Khoka Mia and union BNP activist Tofayel Ahmed Rana, and said both were stripped of their primary membership and all party posts over allegations of involvement in violence, clashes, and bloodshed within the party.

On April 9, two BNP groups clashed over the jhute trade, leaving two pedestrians with bullet injuries, after which the party expelled Fatullah thana Jubo Dal convener Masudur Rahman.

However, the party has yet to take action over a clash between two groups of BNP leaders and activists in Natore on March 19 over dominance, which left a police officer injured.

On April 1, a Narayanganj metropolitan Swechchhasebak Dal president was named in a case over a kidnapping followed by murder, but the party has yet to act on the incident.

On March 24, three people were killed in post-polls violence in Brahmanbaria, but the party has not taken action against its leaders and activists.