Staff Reporter : At the 35th conference of the three-day Federation of Bangladeshi Associations in North America (FOBANA) held in Arlington, Virginia, USA, there were clashes between the members of the executive committee and the members of the host committee. The US Labor Day weekend began last Friday (September 3). The next day, on Saturday, the members of the executive committee pointed out various irregularities to the host committee and demanded an account of income and expenditure. At this time, at first, a quarrel started between them. At one stage, there were fights and clashes between the two sides. No one was seriously injured in the incident. However, two children and a woman sitting in the cafeteria eating food became terrified.
Although the venue was set up at the Hilton Crystal City Hotel in Arlington, Virginia, the Fobana Convention 2021 was advertised as Washington DC for almost a year. A year ago, he was given the responsibility of organizing a landslide in Washington called Shadesh (Swadesh). The organization made a lot of money by carrying out massive extortion in the name of donations for a long year. On the first day, the members of the executive committee raised various questions after seeing the quality of the program and the widespread irregularities. But the convener of the host committee Sharafat Hossain Babu started abusing the executive secretary of Fobana Committee Kazi Shakhawat Hossain Azam without giving an account of the money. At one stage Sharafat Hossain Babu tried to hit him. Babu first slapped him today and then Azam slapped him in retaliation. Another executive member of the committee, Maksudul Haque Chowdhury, who was standing next to the two, was also injured. When he tried to stop the two of them, he pushed Babu hard and he fell on the floor of the house. He regained his composure and went to hit Azam again. Later the situation came under control with the intervention of some people. The two children, who had been sitting and eating in the cafeteria since the start of the fight, were terrified but no one else came forward to comfort them. When the video of the fight immediately spread through social media, there was a storm of condemnation everywhere.
According to reliable sources, the executive committee contributed16,000 to the organizing committee to make the Fobana conference beautiful and fruitful by maintaining the long tradition. The Local Workers Union-Alliance of South Asian American Labor (ASSAL) also provides large sums of money. As promised by Asal, he also appeared at the venue with a large audience. At the beginning of the debate, there was a question about the amount of Asal’s money. But Sharafat Hossain Babu did not agree to give any account. This is the beginning of the conflict.
To the expatriates in the United States, this Fobana conference is known as the BNP (Fobana) conference. And another Fobana conference, known as the Fobana Conference of the Awami League, was scheduled to take place on the same day the same week at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in neighboring Maryland. Due to the epidemic, there was not enough response from Bangladesh to import Adam (Illegal people).
Meanwhile, at the 35th Fobana Conference organized by the host organization Shadesh (Swadesh), there were reports of limited import of Adam ((Illegal people) from Bangladesh. A number of people, including a close friend of the conference convener Sharafat Hossain Babu (a resident of Comilla), have been brought to the United States on visas after showing their skills at the conference.
When asked about the unpleasant incidents and clashes at the 35th Fobana Conference, the convener of the host committee Sharafat Hossain Babu said in a text message that this was their internal matter. However, he noted that Assal’s large sums of money had been discussed with the executive committee.
Meanwhile, executive secretaries of the Fobana Committee Kazi Shakhawat Hossain Azam and Maksudul Haque Chowdhury were contacted but did not respond.
BP/SM
