Bangladesh Freedom Fighter Welfare Trust

Bangladesh Freedom Fighters Welfare Trust or Muktijoddha Kalyan Trust,[1] is government owned and operated trust in Bangladesh established to look after the interest of former Mukti Bahini members and others who fought for Bangladesh in the Bangladesh Liberation war and their family members. It is under the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs.[2]

Bangladesh Freedom Fighters Welfare Trust
FormationSeptember 1972
HeadquartersDhaka, Bangladesh
Region served
Bangladesh
Official language
Bengali
WebsiteBangladesh Freedom Fighters Welfare Trust

History

It was established in September 1972. It owns a number of companies which generate include Tabani Beverage Company, Eastern Cables Industries Limited, Multiple Juice Concentrate Plant, Mimi Chocolate Limited, and Model Engineering Works. It owns four movie theatres: Gulistan, Naz, Moon, and Delwar Pictures. It also owns Gulistan Films Corporation and Durbar Advertising and Publications, Purnima Filling and Services Station. It also receives an annual 160 million taka from the government.[3]

According to the act which established the trust a freedom fighter is "person who served as a member of any force engaged in the war of liberation but shall not include the serving members of the defence services, police or the civil armed forces, or any government pensioner, or any other person having any regular source of income".[4] The Government of Bangladesh in the 1970s handed over the management of tanneries to the trust and Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation.[5][6]

In 1978, the government gave the trust a further 11 nationalised companies.[7] The nationalisation of Moon Cinema Hall led to the Bangladesh Italian Marble Works Ltd. v. Government of Bangladesh, a ground breaking case which led to the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution of Bangladesh being declared illegal.[8]

In 1983, the government of President Hussain Mohammad Ershad withdrew the trust from Bengal National Tannery, Bengal Tannery, Hamidia Metal Industries Limited, Hamidia Oil Mils, Jatrik Publications, Madina Ternary, and Omar Sons Structures Limited.[7]

Between 1988 and 1989 it made a list of freedom fighters in Bangladesh.[9][10]

The Bangladesh Nationalist Party government from 1994 to 1995 closed down a number of companies of the trust; they are Hardeo Glass and Aluminum, Model Electric and Engineering Corporation, and United Tobacco Company.[7]

In 1999, the Awami League government Gulistan cinema hall and Naz cinema hall into shopping malls in a process marked by allegations of corruption.[7] Shops in Rajdhani Super Market were rented out at very low prices by corrupt officials.[7] Gulistan Shopping Complex was never finished.[7]

Tabani Beverage Company is a bottler of Coca-Cola in Bangladesh.[11] Coca-Cola stopped its agreement with Tabani over quality issues.[12] The Awami League government closed Circo Soap and Chemical Industries in 2009.[7]

In 2018, the trust closed down all of the industries it owned as corruption had made them unsustainable.[7][13]

Industries

References
  1. "[WATCH] Gobinda Haldar: 1971 war lyricist". The Daily Star. 11 December 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  2. UNB, Dhaka (15 February 2021). "Freedom fighters' allowance to be raised to Tk 20,000: PM". The Daily Star. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  3. "Bangladesh Freedom Fighters Welfare Trust". Banglapedia. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  4. "Around 70,000 under scrutiny". The Daily Star. 18 August 2014. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  5. Basher, Abul (13 October 2013). "Building the future of the leather sector". The Financial Express (Opinion). Dhaka. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  6. "Hazardous Hazaribagh". Dhaka Tribune. Archived from the original on 29 December 2017. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  7. "All industries closed for corruption". New Age. Retrieved 3 August 2019.
  8. "Govt pays Moon Cinema Hall owner Tk 1 billion in cheque". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  9. "Sector commanders for list of collaborators". The Daily Star. 16 December 2007. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  10. Hossain, Kazi Mobarak. "Wait lingers for final freedom fighter list after 'work is done'". bdnews24.com. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  11. "Cabinet lets major foreign investment deal slip". Dhaka Tribune. Archived from the original on 9 October 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2016.
  12. Byron, Rejaul Karim; Parvez, Sohel (3 December 2013). "Coca-Cola offers Tabani $16m to end bottling deal". The Daily Star. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
  13. "Proof that govt can't run real business". The Business Standard. 27 August 2022. Retrieved 13 October 2022.
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