Zayed’s arrival sparks tension in FDC

Zayed Khan is the rightful General Secretary of the Bangladesh Film Artists Association has sparked tension at BFDC.

The High Court’s ruling that actor Zayed Khan is the rightful General Secretary of the Bangladesh Film Artists Association has sparked tension at the Film Development Corporation or FDC.

Police were deployed at the film city after Wednesday evening and it eased nerves.

On Wednesday, the court ruled that Zayed was rightfully elected as the general secretary of BFAA, overturning a decision by the election appeals board.

Zayed went to the FDC in the evening and later to the BFAA office. Actress Nipun Akter, who sat at the office of general secretary for the past month, was also at FDC but could not be seen around the office.

Zayed’s supporters welcomed him with flowers while his opponents shouted slogans against him.

He then got into an argument with Mohammad Hossain, a member of the association’s election appeals board.

The police arrived around 6:45pm.

A witness, who declined to be named, said: “The FDC became empty after the sudden appearance of the police. But things returned to normal within 10 minutes.”

Many were seen fleeing after the police personnel led by OC Kazi Abul Kalam Azad of Tejgaon Industrial Zone Police arrived at the scene.

“This is a KPI zone. We came here on routine patrol, not on a special drive,” the officer clarified.

Zayed and his followers were later seen at BFAA office around 9pm.

On Jan 28, Ilias Kanchan was elected as president in the BFAA election. The candidate from Nipun’s group defeated Misha Sawdagar, who stood in the election from Zayed’s panel.

But Nipun got 13 votes fewer than Zayed in the ballot. The results were confirmed in a recount. Later, she filed an appeal claiming Zayed bought off votes during the poll, demanding a new vote and threatening to sue Zayed.

The appeals board annulled Zayed’s candidacy claiming it had found evidence supporting the vote-buying allegations and, subsequently, Nipun took the office after a swearing-in.

Zayed moved the High Court against the board and it froze the decision of cancelling his candidacy and issued a rule asking why the board’s decision will not be declared unlawful.

Finally, Zayed secured the reversal in the court.