NBR officials' 'complete shutdown' continues

Officials of the National Board of Revenue (NBR), under the banner of the NBR Unity Council, continued their "complete shutdown" for a second consecutive day on Sunday, demanding the immediate removal of the NBR chairman.

Protesting officials staged a sit-in in front of the NBR headquarters in Agargaon at around 9am, while personnel from the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB), and police were deployed inside the building.

Unity Council Secretary General Sehela Siddika said some NBR members had already proposed potential solutions to resolve the crisis, reports UNB.

"We may meet at the finance adviser's office this afternoon," she said.

On Saturday, the NBR Reform Unity Council announced via a statement that their ongoing complete shutdown and peaceful demonstrations would continue through Sunday.

They stated that while there would be a complete shutdown at all tax, customs, and VAT offices, international services would be exempt.

In a separate statement, the council expressed dissatisfaction with a response from the business community, which claimed that removing the NBR chairman was undesirable and would not achieve any meaningful outcome.

"We express deep regret that their press release fails to explain why the removal of a bureaucrat, who has aligned himself with a toppled fascist regime, is considered undesirable," the statement said.

The Unity Council reaffirmed its position, stating that it had already explained why the removal of NBR Chairman Abdur Rahman Khan—labelled a collaborator of the former fascist government—was essential for "complete, genuine, sustainable, and realistic" reform of the revenue system.

"We hope the government, the business community, and the public will support our demand for the removal of this controversial NBR chairman," the council added.

The council also expressed willingness to hold discussions with the finance adviser on Tuesday in an effort to resolve the situation.

The NBR Reform Unity Council has been staging a series of protest programmes, demanding structural reforms and the removal of the chairman, citing allegations of administrative irregularities, intimidation of officers, and obstruction of pro-reform efforts.

Since early June, agitating officials have organised work abstentions, hunger strikes, and human chains, disrupting services in tax, VAT, and customs offices across the country.

The protests began after the government issued an ordinance on 12 May dissolving both the NBR and the Internal Resources Division, replacing them with the Revenue Policy Division and the Revenue Management Division.

Earlier, the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) imposed an indefinite ban on public gatherings, processions, and rallies in and around the Shishu Mela under Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Police Station, the NBR Office, and the BIDA Office on Agargaon Road, effective from 22 June.