Allegation raised over BB's donation of Tk 10m to campaign for “Yes” vote in referendum

The Anti-Discrimination Student Movement received a grant of 10 million taka from Bangladesh Bank to run a campaign in support of a “Yes” vote in the referendum held alongside the 13th national parliamentary election.

Leaders from one faction of the organisation have raised questions about how the money was obtained and how it was spent.

They have alleged that the organisation’s former president Rifat Rashid, organising secretary Moinul Islam, and chief coordinator Hasib Al Islam concealed information about the fund of Tk 10 million.

Rifat Rashid has denied the allegations, calling them intentional and politically motivated.

He also explained how the funds were received and said that the expenditure was audited by a firm and submitted to Bangladesh Bank.

The issue first came to public attention on Thursday (April 23). On that day, former spokesperson Cynthia Jahin Ayesha and several other leaders of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement held a press conference in front of Madhur Canteen at Dhaka University, where they accused the top leaders of the organisation of concealing the information about receiving the 10 million taka grant from Bangladesh Bank.

At a press conference, Cynthia Jahin said that the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement had decided to carry out a nationwide campaign in support of a “Yes” vote in the referendum held alongside the 13th national parliamentary election.

When asked how the campaign would be financed, it was initially stated that the programme would be carried out using personal funds.

However, later on, the receipt of funds from a state institution and how they were spent were kept hidden from them.

She further said, “At the last central committee meeting on 12 April, they (Rifat–Hasib) were forced to admit that they had collected at least Tk 10 million through a foundation. We have still not received any transparent account of this money.”

However, three days before this press conference, Rifat Rashid, Hasib Al Islam, and a group of leaders and activists of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement formally joined the National Citizen Party (NCP).

On the same day, Rifat and Hasib formed a five-member advisory council for a new committee of the movement and suspended all activities of the central committee.

The day after Cynthia Jahin’s press conference, Rifat Rashid—who had resigned as president of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement and joined the NCP—addressed the allegations in a Facebook Live session.

He described Cynthia’s claims as “ridiculous and politically motivated.”

In the live broadcast, Rifat Rashid said, “These false and baseless allegations have been made to discredit us, the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, and to discredit the referendum. We reject these allegations. I want to clearly say that if any investigative agency in Bangladesh, including the Anti-Corruption Commission, wants to investigate this matter, we will fully cooperate. If needed, I will personally go to their office and submit all necessary documents and go through the entire process.”

He also explained how the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement received 10 million taka from Bangladesh Bank. He said that before the election, the organisation was seeking funding for a campaign called the “Yes Campaign” in support of a “Yes” vote in the referendum.

On the advice of a well-wisher, who suggested that support might be available from corporate social responsibility (CSR) funds of various banks, they contacted Bangladesh Bank. In this process, they were assisted by some “senior individuals” working at the office of the then Chief Adviser.

Rifat Rashid said in the Facebook Live, “We went to Bangladesh Bank and submitted our proposals. Those proposals were accepted. We had originally planned a large-scale national programme, including concerts, door-to-door campaigns, and online campaigns. We had planned a campaign even larger than what the government itself had done. For that, we submitted a plan worth around 1.2 billion taka.”

He further said that Bangladesh Bank had raised questions about whether such a large nationwide campaign could be carried out with limited funds.

He added that complications arose because the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement was not a registered organisation, and Bangladesh Bank could not provide funds to an unregistered entity. Therefore, they decided to create a foundation called “SAD” under which the funds would be channelled.

Rifat Rashid, the then president of the organisation, said that an agreement worth Tk 50 million had been made with Bangladesh Bank before the election to implement a 15-day campaign plan.

He said, “At that time there was very little time before the vote, about a week. The campaign included visits to districts and divisions, caravans, ‘Yes Gates’, and leaflet distribution. We also attempted to appoint agents from the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement at every polling centre on election day. A large portion of the fund was allocated for these activities. Bangladesh Bank gave us Tk 10 million. After fulfilling all contractual conditions, the money was audited by a Bangladesh Bank-registered audit firm and the report was submitted back to Bangladesh Bank. Their representatives also spoke with us and found no issues; they even praised us. After that, the matter effectively came to an end.”