NBR Reform Unity Council urges CA's help to resolve 'deadlock'

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) Reform Unity Council, a group of protesting officials and staff, has called for urgent intervention of Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus to break the ongoing deadlock at the NBR.

"Given the current circumstances, we believe that without the intervention of the chief adviser, this deadlock cannot be resolved. We sincerely urge his intervention to end this impasse," said President of the NBR Reform Unity Council Hasan Muhammad Tarek Rikabder at a press conference at the NBR headquarters on Thursday afternoon.

The Council issued an ultimatum, demanding removal of NBR Chairman Md Abdur Rahman Khan by today. They warned that if their demand is not met, a nationwide indefinite "shutdown" of customs and tax offices, including the NBR, would begin on June 28. Additionally, a "March to NBR" programme has been scheduled for the same day.

For the past four days, the Council has been staging sit-ins and observing a pen-down strike in support of their demands.

On Thursday, security forces, including army personnel, members of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), police, Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), and Coast Guard, surrounded the NBR headquarters. They sealed off the premises, preventing entry or exit. Council President Rikabder, along with other protesters, was prevented from entering the building and sat in protest at the main gate. Several NBR officials and commissioners joined him by sitting on the adjacent road and pavement.

At the briefing, Rikabder condemned the action, stating, "A large number of police, RAB, BGB, Coast Guard, and army personnel have been deployed, and all entrances to the NBR have been locked down. No NBR official or staff member has been allowed to enter today. We strongly condemn this action."

He further compared the current situation to the July uprising, stating, "Just as the fascist Awami government failed to suppress the July uprising, they will also fail to crush our justified demands for revenue reform. We are prepared to sacrifice everything to prevent the dismantling of the NBR."

On Wednesday, the Ministry of Finance issued a press release stating that a "delegation from the tax and customs cadre" was invited for a dialogue with the Finance Adviser scheduled for Thursday evening. However, the Unity Council refused to attend the meeting, as they had not received a formal invitation.

Later that evening, the army opened the NBR gate from the inside, but the Unity Council had locked it from outside, preventing anyone from exiting. The lock was removed around 5:15 pm. Security forces formed lines along the road to allow vehicles to exit the premises.

In May, the government issued an ordinance dividing the NBR into two separate entities-Revenue Policy and Revenue Administration. In response, NBR employees launched various protest programmes, including pen-down strikes, demanding the repeal of the ordinance. Although the government softened its stance, announcing that any implementation of the ordinance would involve discussions with NBR officials, the protesters continued their demand for the resignation of the NBR chairman.

Meanwhile, following a two-and-a-half-hour-long dialogue with revenue department top officials on Thursday evening, Finance Adviser Dr. Salehuddin Ahmed announced that further discussions with revenue officials will be held next week. In response to a journalist's question about the nationwide shutdown, he urged the officials to withdraw their protest programme.

Out of the 17 members of the National Board of Revenue, 16 took part in the dialogue.

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