Man Who Surrendered With Yaba and Served Jail Term Now Administrator of Teknaf Sadar Union, Sparking Controversy

In Cox's Bazar's Teknaf, Ziaur Rahman Jihad, who surrendered with yaba pills and served a prison term, has been appointed administrator of the expired Teknaf Sadar Union Parishad by the UP-1 branch of the Local Government Division. The appointment has sparked controversy across Teknaf since it became public.

On February 16, 2019, at the Teknaf Pilot High School field, in the presence of the then home minister, 102 yaba traders surrendered to police with 30 locally made weapons and 350,000 yaba pills. Ziaur Rahman Jihad was one of them, and the surrendered men later served one and a half years in prison.

On October 27, a notification signed by Senior Assistant Secretary Atikul Islam nominated Jihad as administrator and nine others as members, approving them to run the parishad for 120 days until an election is held. Five days after the approval, on November 3, Jihad and the other members took charge of the parishad.

On November 23, 2022, Mohammad Ismail, then judge of the Cox's Bazar District and Sessions Judge Court, sentenced Jihad and 101 other surrendered men to one and a half years in jail and a fine of Tk 20,000. Jihad is a resident of the Gudarbil area of ward 6 of Teknaf Sadar union and the son of the late Ali Ahmed.

Jihad faces allegations of closeness to Abdur Rahman Badi, the former MP (Cox's Bazar-4) of the banned Awami League. Badi was arrested in Chattogram on August 20 after the 2024 mass uprising and remains in jail. During the Awami League era, Badi was alleged to control drug smuggling along the Myanmar border and earned notoriety as a 'yaba godfather.' Several photos of Jihad taking part in the election campaigns of Badi's wife, former MP Shahin Akter, in the 2018 and 2024 national elections have circulated on social media.

Several residents of Teknaf Sadar union said that, using his closeness to Badi, Teknaf upazila BNP member Ziaur Rahman Jihad was elected UP chairman as an independent candidate in 2021, defying his party's decision. Cox's Bazar district BNP assistant office secretary Hasan Siddiqui said Jihad was expelled from the party for campaigning for boat candidate Shahin Akter in the 2024 twelfth parliamentary election, but the expulsion order was withdrawn in the period after August 5.

A senior Teknaf upazila BNP leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the party is now in power and those who colluded with the fascists for 17 years are still taking advantages in good times. Jihad's closeness to Badi is as clear as daylight, the leader said, and giving him the administrator's responsibility is unfortunate; the responsibility could have been given to a political or administrative figure, as has been done in many parishads.

The nine members of the newly formed parishad are Rashid Mia in ward 1, Ranu Akter in ward 2, Shah Alam in ward 3, Laila Begum in ward 4, Zahir Ahmad in ward 5, Maulvi Rafiq in ward 6, Rashid Alam in ward 7, Reduan in ward 8 and Nazir Ahmad in ward 9.

Six of these members are linked to the politics of the banned Awami League and all of them hold party posts. Ward 1 member Rashid Mia is joint convener of the Teknaf Sadar union Awami League, ward 3 member Shah Alam is vice-president of the union Awami League, and ward 4 member Laila Begum was publicity secretary of the Teknaf upazila Mahila League. Ward 6 member Maulvi Rafiq is religious affairs secretary of the upazila Awami Ulama League, ward 7 member Rashid Alam is joint general secretary of the same organisation, and ward 9 member Nazir Ahmad is a member of the upazila Awami League. Ward 8 member Reduan is also a surrendered yaba trader who served jail time with Jihad.

On receiving the administrator's responsibility, Ziaur Rahman Jihad said he had run the parishad for the past five years as a representative elected by the people's vote, that this is a temporary responsibility, and that he will serve the people until an election is held. Asked about the surrender, he said everyone was oppressed for 17 years and he too was a victim of circumstances.

State Minister for Local Government Mir Shahe Alam recently told reporters at the Secretariat that lists of administrators are sent to the ministry from the deputy commissioner's office with only the individuals' names, so there is no way to know who is a government official and who is a political party leader. Cox's Bazar Deputy Commissioner Abdul Mannan said government rules are followed in appointing union parishad administrators, that whether a case or court verdict against a person affects eligibility is a matter of legal review, and that the necessary documents will be examined.