| Bangladesh Jatiotabadi Chatra Dal | |
| Native Name: | বাংলাদেশ জাতীয়তাবাদী ছাত্রদল |
| Colorcode: | green |
| Logo2: | File:Sina 123.jpg |
| President: | Rakibul Islam Rakib |
| Secretary General: | Nasir Uddin Nasir |
| Headquarters: | 28/1 Naya Paltan, Dhaka |
| Ideology: | Nationalism Progressivism |
| Mother Party: | Bangladesh Nationalist Party |
Bangladesh Jatiotabadi Chatra Dal (Bengali: বাংলাদেশ জাতীয়তাবাদী ছাত্রদল Jatiyôtabadee Chhatrô Dôl),[1] also known as JCD, is the affiliate student wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP).[2] [3] Many of the top BNP leaders and policy-makers today were once closely associated with JCD and developed as student leaders.[4] [5]
After the Bangladesh Nationalist Party was founded by Ziaur Rahman, he realized a strong student organization was needed to cherish future leaders, and founded Chhatra Dal on 1 January 1979. As the student wing of the BNP, Chatra Dal has adopted a 19-point programme, based on the mother organization's structure and approach.[3] Chatra Dal was one of the Vanguard organisation in the democracy movement against Military dictator Hussain Muhammed Ershad.[6] [7]
Bangladesh Jatiotabadi Chatra Dal is led by a committee, of whom all the members are students. The Dal has 736 member national committee. The committee formed in 2016 came under criticism from party activists for including nonstudents and people with criminal cases filed against them; despite Chairperson of BNP Khaleda Zia forbidding it. It also had members who were victims of forced disappearance.[8]
In 2004, members of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) harassed the NGO Proshika, resulting in damage to its headquarters and two local offices in Mehdiganj, Barisal. These events occurred under the then Bangladesh Nationalist Party-led government.[9] On 11 September 2004, JCD activists targeted opposition student groups, journalists, and vandalized the office of Dhaka University Teachers Association president AAMS Arefin Siddique.[10] Additionally, on 15 October 2015, a conflict between Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal and Islami Chhatra Shibir at BL College in Daulatpur led to the deployment of Bangladesh Rifles and riot police.[11]
In 2002, Sony, a student of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, died in a shootout between two factions of Chhatra Dal.[12] [13] On 19 November 2006, JCD members attacked and injured five activists of Chhatra Sangram Parishad and detonated bombs at Dhaka University.[14] The police filed cases against 150 JCD activists for attacking law enforcement during factional protests in Sylhet.[15] On 9 November 2008, Ashraful Islam Pintu, the president of the Jhenaidah unit of JCD, was arrested with a gun and bomb.[16]
On 19 January 2010, factional clashes within Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal resulted in injuries to 25 people, including a proctor and four police officers.[17] On 12 December 2010, 200 JCD activists attacked their own headquarters in Naya Paltan over the formation of a unit committee.[18] Saiduzzaman Pasha, a Dhaka University JCD activist, was arrested on 28 January 2010 after photos of him armed with a gun during factional clashes emerged; he faced several criminal charges, including extortion.[19]
On 26 May 2013, JCD members vandalized 25 vehicles during protests in support of Tarique Rahman in Dhaka.[20] On 15 August 2013, JCD engaged in factional clashes during Khaleda Zia's birthday celebration in Chittagong, damaging private property.[21] On 28 November 2013, JCD attacked a demonstration by the Bangladesh Awami League's student wing Bangladesh Chhatra League in Narsingdi, resulting in the deaths of two Chhatra League members.[22]
Factional clashes among JCD activists in front of the BNP office in Naya Paltan on 17 March 2014 left 10 activists injured.[23] On 7 March 2015, a JCD leader was injured while attempting to build a bomb in Chittagong.[24] On 19 July 2015, the central president of JCD, Rajib Ahsan, and five associates were arrested with the drug Ya Ba in Dumki upazila, Patuakhali.[25]