Dulal Mia, Sunamganj 

The Intra-Upazila Rights Council, Sunamganj, a completely non-political, voluntary, and pro-citizenship organization, has officially been launched in Sunamganj. On this occasion, a press briefing was held on Friday morning, May 15, at the Shaheed Muktijoddha Jagatjyoti Public Library auditorium in Sunamganj town.

The press meeting was presided over by the Convener of the Council, Nurul Haque Afindi, and moderated by Member Afiqul Islam. Notable speakers included the Council’s Advisor Professor Syed Muhibul Islam, Joint Conveners Gazi Belayet Hossain, Tajul Islam, and Haji Abul Barkat, Member Secretary Morol Md. Masud Zaman Liton, Members Adv. Abdul Khaleq, Journalist Jasim Uddin, Lecturer Dulal Mia, Fazlul Karim Saeed, Journalist Aminul Haque, Sohel Alam, Sergeant (Retd.) Ziaur Rahman, Shaheed Nur Ahmed, Sagar Talukda and others.

The speakers stated, “The Intra-Upazila Rights Council, Sunamganj has been officially launched through the joint initiative of welfare associations from five upazilas—Tahirpur, Jamalganj, Bishwamberpur, Dowarabazar, and Derai. In the future, similar associations from other upazilas will also be integrated into this united platform. The primary objective of this organization is to serve as a pressure group—actively and collectively voicing citizen rights, public-private services, development projects, and public interest issues.”

They emphasized, “We believe that strengthening the voice of the people in matters of development and public services will help make administrative activities more transparent, accountable, and people-friendly.”

The speakers pointed out that the region suffers from various fundamental problems such as dilapidated roads, poor infrastructure in educational institutions, healthcare shortages, unemployment, river erosion, and weak haor management. Despite some individual upazila-level efforts, the lack of a coordinated movement often results in these demands being neglected. To address this gap, the Intra-Upazila Rights Council, Sunamganj will act as a united platform.

The organization plans to adopt a long-term roadmap that will include timely demand presentations, regular dialogues with public representatives and the administration, active media engagement on local issues, voluntary initiatives, and awareness campaigns.

They clarified that the organization is not affiliated with any political party and was not formed with political intentions. It is entirely non-political, voluntary, and committed to upholding citizen rights. The sole aim is to ensure the development of all upazilas in the district, uphold citizens’ rights, and promote public welfare.

At the end of the session, a 31-member convening committee of the Intra-Upazila Rights Council, Sunamganj was announced, with Nurul Haque Afindi as the Convener and Morol Md. Masud Zaman Liton as the Member Secretary.