Non-students with murky past triumph over regular students in the newly announced convening committee of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal's (JCD) Dhaka University unit.

The announcement of the 21-member DU unit convening committee comprising mostly non-student, married and business people came on Friday just 17 days after formation of the JCD central convening committee. Non-student leaders in their early and mid-40s managed their slots there too, drawing flak from the rank and file.

Upon facing much resistance from its fully-fledged DU unit, the new JCD central convening committee dissolved it on July 6 and announced the new DU convening committee on July 17. General JCD adherents level allegations of extortion, hijacking and even drugs peddling against the new DU unit leadership.

Talking to The Daily Star, Convener of DU unit Abdul Matin said, "I was enrolled at the university in 1992-93 in philosophy department. But it was not possible to keep the studentship for such a long time." In the December 29 national polls, Matin sought BNP ticket from the Naogaon-4 constituency.

A group of JCD leaders allege Matin was involved in the politics of Islami Chhatra Shibir when he was a student of Dhaka Alia Madrasa and was an accused in the murder of Alia Madrasa JCD leader Khokon. Matin also served in jail for six months in connection with the Khokon murder case during the 1991-1996 BNP rule, says a senior JCD leader.

Denying his link with Shibir, Matin claims various allegations were brought against him to tarnish his political image. Apart from Matin, other key leaders of the JCD DU unit are also not students.

Allegations are rife that Joint Convener Ainul Haque Anik is involved in drugs peddling on the campus. He was also arrested once during the BNP rule on charge of hijacking, JCD sources say. Studentship of Abdur Rahim Setu, another joint convener, was cancelled for poor academic performance.

Joint Convener Obaidul Haque Nasir is married and passed out from the university long ago. Another joint convener Abdul Wahab, who was the general secretary of Shahidullah Hall unit, was involved in ransacking the television room of the hall. He allegedly used to collect toll from an unauthorised rickshaw garage set up in front of Shahidullah Hall, alleges a joint secretary of the dissolved JCD committee.

-Daily Star