Serious allegations have been raised against Bangladesh Film Directors Association (BFDA) for illegally running its office inside Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC), although as per existing law of the country, no such office can operate inside BFDC premises, which is a Key Point Installation (KPI) area.
According to information, Bangladesh Film Directors Association (BFDA) currently has 368 registered voter members, while the number of Associate Members is above 250. The organization takes BDT25,000-53,000 from each member while enrolling in it and the monthly membership fee is BDT100. Meaning, the organization earns more than BDT 100,000 from membership fees, while it has already collected more than BDT 15 million from the members while enrolling them in it. Surprisingly, Bangladesh Film Directors Association does not have any office of its own, while it has been illegally running its office at the space allocated to it by the Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC) exclusively as study room and library.
Meanwhile, according to information, while illegally operating its office inside BFDC, Bangladesh Film Directors Association does not pay electricity, gas and wall bills. Such irregularities have been continuing for decades while the Bangladesh Film Development Corporation of the Ministry of Information did not take any steps in evicting this illegal office from the premises. It is alleged that, in addition to BFDA, few more associations also are illegally running their offices inside BFDC.
Industry insiders have raised questions about continuation of illegal offices inside the Key Point Installation (KPI). Civil society members said, existence of such illegal offices would pause security threats to the Bangladesh Film Development Corporation. Although the Bangladesh Film Directors Association and a few other associations are running illegal offices by occupying BFDC premises, there is no legal action taken against such activities by the authorities concerned.
Seeking anonymity, a senior official at the Ministry of Home Affairs told this correspondent that as per existing laws, no such activities are supposed to continue inside KPI areas.
It may be mentioned here that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman founded Bangladesh Film Development Corporation as an institution for exclusively rendering various technical supports, including shooting floors, cameras, editing panels, dubbing studios etcetera. But unfortunately, since the autocratic rule of General Ziaur Rahman, several organizations, including Bangladesh Film Directors Association have occupied BFDC premises and turned it into the epicenter of unsocial and even anti-government political activities as well as secret casinos. Most of these illegal occupants of BFDC premises are not playing any visible role in promoting Bangladeshi films, whereas in most cases, their roles are either counterproductive or against the interest of the Bangladesh film industry.
It is further alleged that, due to the existence of several illegal offices of associations inside BFDC premises, and especially due to continuation of political and anti-social activities, the entire premises of the Bangladesh Film Development Corporation has turned into a chaotic place.
