Entertainment

Voting of Bangladesh Film Artists Association going on

The biennial election of Bangladesh Film Artists Association is being held today after various incidents including counter-allegations, lawsuits, money laundering allegations. Voting will be held at Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC) from 9 am to 5 pm.

In the last one month, a number of incidents have taken place in the FDC, including in-person appearances or through various social media campaigns. In this, the election of a small organization of artists seems to have defeated the national election!

Several stars are competing in the two panels in this election. Actors Misha Saudagar and Zayed Khan, who have just passed away, are leading a panel.

On the other hand, another panel is being led by renowned actor Ilyas Kanchan in the post of president and actress Nipun Akter in the post of general secretary. In both panels, a number of senior-junior star performers are fighting against each other.

Meanwhile, the controversy over the selection of the Film Artists Association started from the beginning of this month. At the outset, many doubted whether the election would be held on time. On the one hand, there was the fear of increasing the incidence of corona, on the other hand, the issue of court ban in the writ petition filed by many associate members deprived of the right to vote was also under discussion.

But the Misha-Zayed committee elected last session formed a steering committee to hold the elections on time and left the power to the commissioners. Subject to discussion with the previous committee, the election management committee announced the schedule of the election on January 26.

Peerzada Shahidul Harun is acting as the chairman of this committee. He is accompanied by BH Nishan and Bazlur Rashed Chowdhury as commissioners.

The number of voters in this year’s Shilpi Samiti election is 426. Voters will be able to vote for the candidate of their choice from 9 am. However, the Election Commission has imposed a number of restrictions on entry to the FDC to avoid crowds of visitors during the election and to warn corona.

These include – registered TV channels, selected newspapers and government-recognized online journalists – no one will be allowed to enter the FDC. There will be no pendulum or chair arrangement in FDC today on the occasion of election. No one can be inside the FDC except voters, artists and voters on election day.

Although the number of voters in this election was 426, 124 members who were excluded through a special meeting in 2016, 164 members also filed a writ petition in the court to get their voting rights back.

The Misha-Zayed Committee elected at that time followed the constitution of the committee and revoked the voting rights of these members and made them associate members. In protest, the artists resorted to the courts to regain their voting rights. Although Darshao sent a notice asking why the court had excluded them before the 2019 elections, then-Chief Election Commissioner actor Ilyas Kanchan did not accept the letter because of the word ‘Mohammad’ before his name on the eve of the election.

The letter that came from the court at that time had the name of the recipient as ‘Mohammad Ilyas Kanchan’ written on it. Elias Kanchan then claimed that he did not write Muhammad before his name. So he does not know who Mohammad Ilyas Kanchan is and he is not the recipient of this letter. As he did not accept the letter, the election was held on time and Misha-Zayed was re-elected. In the same way, these artists again approached the court to get their voting rights back and applied for a stay of the election. However, the High Court did not postpone the election in the end.

January 26, Justice. Khasruzzaman and Justice. A virtual high court bench comprising Mahmud Hasan Talukder directed not to stop the election. However, the court said that the verdict would be announced after the final hearing of the rule to restore the voting rights of the deprived artists.

More mud has been thrown around this election than in the past. Artists have blamed each other on various issues. The Election Commission has also been accused of harassing artists at the FDC. There is also a question as to whether the letter given by the Misha-Zayed Committee to cancel the 184-member suffrage was approved by the famous actor Alamgir.

Protesting against this, Alamgir said, “Show me the resolution of cancellation of 164 voters.” There’s my signature, I’m involved – I promised to vote for your (Misha-Zayed) panel if I could prove it. And if you can’t prove it, I’ll take legal action in your name. He further said, ‘Come to us for good advice. We who are the most senior, everyone wants the film to be in good condition.

Meanwhile, Naik Riaz alleged that he had received death threats on the occasion of the election. He is contesting for the post of vice-president from the Ilyas Kanchan-Nipun panel. He said, ‘I have been called from various numbers and told that if I come to FDC, I will be killed. I have saved the numbers from which the call was made. I’m not blaming anyone. For the past few days, calls have been coming from many different numbers. Numbers I’ve never seen in my life. He said by phone, if he goes to FDC, he will kill him and break his arms and legs. They will kill Riaz. Didn’t do the GD, didn’t tell anyone. As far as action is concerned, I have taken it. ‘

Both the panels have composed songs for the election campaign of the artist association. Meanwhile, senior actress Anwara has criticized the song promoted by Ilyas Kanchan-Nipun panel. At one point in the song, it is said, ‘The days of buying votes with notes are over.’ Criticizing this line, he said, ‘I did not like the song. Why money will come in the election of the artist association?

I have not seen all this in so many years of acting life. It seems to me that we are becoming clowns. We all need to vote with understanding. There will be victory and defeat in the election. That’s why you have to talk to others in a short way, you have to sing, these are not desirable. One said, senior-junior all one! How can we expect respect from them? Another said, I don’t want improvement of artist association, I want work. If the artist association does not improve, how will it work? ‘

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