The officers and employees of customs and tax observed the pen-down strike and sit-in demonstration at offices of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) across the country, including its headquarters in Dhaka, for the second consecutive day, on Tuesday.
The programme, running from 9am to 2pm, was organized under the banner of the NBR Reform Unity Council, demanding rational reforms within the revenue administration.
The protesters squatted at the ground floor of the NBR building in Agargaon since the morning.
During a midday press conference, leaders of the NBR Reform Unity Council tore up recent transfer orders in a symbolic protest against what they termed as unjust administrative decisions.
Hassan Muhammad Tarek Rikabdar, additional commissioner and president of the Unity Council, along with other leaders, spoke at the press briefing.
The protest stems from the government's decision, issued through an ordinance on May 12, to dissolve the NBR and the Internal Resources Division (IRD), and replace them with two new entities — Revenue Policy Division and Revenue Management Division.
In response, NBR officials and staff have been carrying out a series of protest programmes. The Unity Council has announced the next phase of action — on Wednesday and Thursday (June 25–26), when all customs, VAT, and tax offices (except those providing international passenger services and export processing) will observe a pen-down and sit-in protest from 12pm to 5pm.
If the transfer orders are not cancelled and the current NBR chairman is not removed, the council warned of a "complete shutdown" of all revenue offices (excluding international passenger services) from June 28 onward.
