BKMEA president forced to leave Narayanganj event after Chhatra Dal labels him 'Hasina's stooge'

Mohammad Hatem, president of the Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA), was compelled to leave an event at Government Tolaram College in Narayanganj today after some local Chhatra Dal leaders labelled him a "stooge" of ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

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The incident occurred during the Entrepreneur Conference 2025, organised by the Industrialists and Businessmen Welfare Foundation (IBDWF) to encourage youth entrepreneurship. After Hatem delivered his speech, IBDWF President Muhammad Shahidul Islam took the stage as the chief guest. 

At that moment, several members of Tolaram College's Chhatra Dal unit reportedly entered the hall, shouted at Hatem, and forced him to leave, later disrupting and shutting down the conference entirely.

Commenting on the incident, Hatem told The Business Standard, "People from a vested quarter in Narayanganj sent a few boys from Chhatra Dal to create a scene. However, they didn't attack me." 

He added that he has no plans to file a police complaint or general diary over the matter.

Hatem stressed that he is not affiliated with any political party. "Since I was never involved with any political party, nor has anyone seen me take part in their programmes, they assume I'm linked to their rival party," he said. 

"My only party is the business community. I represent a business organisation. No matter which government is in power, I work with them to protect the interests of businessmen. I have no political ideology."

When asked for a response, Monir Hossain Zia, president of the Tolaram College unit of Chhatra Dal, told TBS, "He is a fascist and a major financier of Hasina. We cannot accept that an ally of such a fascist would come to our college and hold an event. Four of our students were martyred in the July movement. Knowing that Hatem would come to our campus over the graves of these martyrs, our students got enraged. We asked him to leave, and he was safely escorted out of the college."

Claiming ongoing pressure since the incident, the Chhatra Dal president said, "I have received calls and threats from various quarters. These people still control Narayanganj through money, but students rejected the fascist collaborators during the July movement and will continue to do so."