PM's order on renaming 3 unions arrives in Bogura DC office

A letter of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman that ordered measures to change the names of three unions in Bogura that were named after State Minister for Local Government Mir Shahe Alam and his sons has reached the office of Deputy Commissioner.

The letter came from the Prime Minister's Office on Saturday (June 20) afternoon.

The letter signed by ABM Abdus Sattar, Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister's Office, has asked for a public hearing again, giving importance to the opinions of the local people, changing the names of the newly formed 'Mirbari', 'Simanta' and 'Diganta' unions.

Bogura Deputy Commissioner (DC) Taufiqur Rahman told Views Bangladesh that the Prime Minister had ordered to change the names of two unions--Simanta and Diganta--in Mokamtala Upazila over the phone on Friday.

"Today, I received instructions from the Prime Minister to change the names of three unions. The name of the newly formed union Mirbari in Shibganj Upazila has also been ordered to be changed."

He also said that work has started as per the Prime Minister's instructions. Once the new name is finalized according to the due process, it will be published in the form of a gazette.

Recently, the administrative structure of the new upazila named Mokamtala was restructured by breaking Shibganj Upazila. The names of the unions of Shibganj and Mokamtala were announced in the government gazette published in this regard. However, various controversies started regarding the names of three unions.

Earlier, on June 11, the administrative structure of five unions of Shibganj Upazila and eight unions of the newly formed Mokamtala Upazila was restructured in a notification signed by the Deputy Commissioner.

After the publication of that gazette on June 14, criticism over the names of the new unions intensified.

One union in Shibganj Upazila was named Mirbari Union. On the other hand, two of the newly formed unions in Mokamtala Upazila were named Simanta and Diganta Unions.

Allegations were raised that Mir Shahe Alam, Member of Parliament for Bogura-2 (Shibganj) and State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives, named the new union in Shibganj after his ancestral residence Mirbari. Similarly, the two unions in Mokamtala were named after his two sons Mir Shakrul Alam Simanta and Mir Saqlain Alam Diganta.

However, the State Minister informed the Parliament that the names miraculously matched the names of his family members.

Even after his statement, the criticism over the naming of the unions did not stop. Finally, on the orders of the Prime Minister, their names are going to be changed.