‘It felt to me that the country had changed’, Aminul in interview

The board of directors of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) led by Aminul Islam was dissolved last Tuesday. Though Aminul Islam has been remaining in Bangladesh for the past five days, apart from a written statement, he had not made any further comment on the matter.

In a lengthy interview with Prothom Alo today, Sunday, the former national team captain spoke about the various discussions and criticisms surrounding his tenure over the past 10 months as BCB president.

In May last year, during the tenure of the interim government, Aminul Islam was appointed interim president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board after Faruque Ahmed was removed from the post.

Aminul assumed the role after the National Sports Council (NSC) cancelled Faruque Ahmed’s nomination as a director.

Later, in October, Aminul was re-elected as president after winning a position as a director from Dhaka Division in the BCB board elections.

However, one group withdrew from the election, alleging irregularities. At the time, it was already being anticipated that Aminul’s board could face challenges if a political government came to power. He, however, said that he had not imagined the board might be dissolved.

In the interview, Aminul told Prothom Alo, “I had been outside the country for a long time. I worked with 20 associate member countries, including Afghanistan. I had observed a certain practice of governance and had an understanding of how things usually function globally. Another thing that always gave me confidence was that it felt to me that the country had changed.”

Explaining what he meant, the former BCB president said, “By change, I mean that sport and politics would not go hand in hand. We spoke very firmly about a few things—that players should not engage in politics. Shakib, Mashrafe, Durjoy—those who had become politically involved—we said that players cannot be political. But then how do politicians come into sports? After all, politicians’ work is to do politics.”

On the day he was removed as BCB president, Aminul had visited the proposed stadium site in Purbachal earlier in the afternoon. He said he learned of the dissolution of his board only after returning to the office later that day.

He also described the situation that followed.

According to him, he was effectively forced to leave the BCB “with dignity”. “After returning from Purbachal, I heard that our board had been dissolved. Suddenly, it felt as though our office had turned into a political office. Hundreds of people started coming and going. At one stage, Pilot (Khaled Mashud) requested me, saying, ‘Bhai, let’s leave.’ At that time, Fahim bhai, Pilot and I were at the board. We were compelled to leave that day.”

Aminul still considers himself the legitimate BCB president, maintaining that last year’s election was conducted in accordance with the board’s constitution.

The former national captain has also described those responsible for the investigation report, on the basis of which the board was dissolved, as well as the current ad hoc committee, as illegitimate.

* The full interview with Aminul will be published in Monday’s online and print editions of Prothom Alo.