National Board of Revenue(NBR) officials under the banner of NBR Unity Council continued their ‘complete shutdown’ for the second consecutive day on Sunday, demanding the immediate removal of its Chairman.
Protesting officials staged a sit-in in front of the NBR headquarters in Agargaon this morning while a large number of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab), Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), and police personnel were deployed inside the building, reports UNB.
Unity council Secretary General Sehela Siddika said that some NBR members have already given them some proposals to find a solution to resolve the crisis.
"We may sit at the Finance Adviser’s office this afternoon," she said.
The NBR Reform Unity Council on Saturday through a statement announced that their ongoing complete shutdown and peaceful march will continue on Sunday.
There will be a complete shutdown in all tax, customs and VAT offices but international services will be excluded from this complete shutdown, they said.
In a statement also expressed discontent over the business community’s statement that the removal of the NBR Chairman is in no way desirable and would not bring any success.
“We express our deep regret that their press release does not clarify why the removal of a bureaucrat—who has become a collaborator of a fallen fascist regime—is not desirable to them,” it said.
The Unity Council reaffirmed their stance saying they have already clarified why the removal of NBR Chairman Abdur Rahman Khan, “a collaborator of the fascist government,” is essential for “complete, genuine, sustainable, and realistic” reforms of the revenue system.
“We hope that the government, the business community, and the people of the country will support our demand for the removal of this controversial NBR Chairman,” it added.
The Council also expressed willingness to hold discussions with the Finance Adviser on Tuesday to resolve the situation.
The NBR Reform Unity Council has been demonstrating with a series of protest programmes demanding structural reforms and the removal of the NBR Chairman citing allegations of administrative irregularities, officer intimidation, and obstruction of pro-reform efforts.
Since early June the agitating officials have held work abstentions, hunger strikes, and human chains, disrupting services in tax, VAT and customs offices across the country.
The protests began after the government issued an ordinance on May 12 dissolving the NBR and the Internal Resources Division, replacing them with the Revenue Policy Division and the Revenue Management Division.
Earlier, Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) imposed a ban on public gatherings, processions, and rallies from the Shishu Mela under Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station, NBR Office (National Board of Revenue), BIDA Office (Bangladesh Investment Development Authority) on Agargaon Road and its surrounding areas for an indefinite period beginning from June 22.
Bd-pratidin English/ ANI
