MBCB Vows Continued Protests Over NEIR, Demands Release of Detained Mobile Traders

The Mobile Business Community Bangladesh (MBCB) has announced that it will continue its protest demanding the release of 46 people detained by police following an attack on the BTRC building and arrests made at the Kawran Bazar intersection. The organisation also warned that implementing the National Equipment Identity Register (NEIR) without amendments would disproportionately harm students and expatriates.

These demands were raised at a press conference held on Tuesday, January 6, at the Sagar-Runi Auditorium of the Dhaka Reporters Unity.

At the press briefing, MBCB Organising Secretary Shah Alam demanded the immediate release of detained fellow traders, stating that protest programmes would continue if their demands were not met. He said mobile phone shops would remain shut down and emphasised that their movement would remain non-violent, adding that they would organise human chains as part of their protest.

Another member, Shahadat Hossain, clarified that the organisation is not opposed to the NEIR system itself but is calling for reforms to ensure fairness and inclusivity.

Several mobile phone traders from different markets, including Aktar Hossain Pabon, Iqbal Hossain, Md Nasir Uddin, Faisal Azad, Selimuzzaman and Kamrul Islam, were present at the press conference.

In a written statement read out at the beginning of the event, Anisur Rahman Sohel warned that launching the NEIR system without necessary revisions would result in the entire mobile phone market falling under the control of just nine companies. He said this would eliminate consumer choice and reduce market competition to virtually zero.

DBTech/MUM/AK/OR