Centre for Governance Studies
NPO Think Tank
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Centre for Governance Studies is a non-profit, nonpartisan think tank and research institute founded in 2004. It studies politics and governance in Bangladesh. Manjur Ahmed Chowdhury is chairman of the Centre for Governance Studies.[1][2][3] Zillur Rahman is the executive director.[4]
| Formation | 2004 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Dhaka, Bangladesh |
Official language | Bengali |
| Website | cgs-bd |
History
Centre for Governance Studies was established in 2004.[5] The advisory panel includes Ali Riaz, M Sakhawat Hossain, Nasim Ferdous, and Rokanuddin Mahmud.[6]
In November 2023, executive director Zillur Rahman predicted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina would face the same repression she was imposing on her opponents if she was removed from power.[7] He also stated that âThe Awami League are all so scared," as "They donât have a safe exitâ.[7]
In December 2023, Centre for Governance Studies organized a conference titled Bangladesh at the Crossroads: Election, Economy, and External Relations where speakers spoke critically about the upcoming 2024 Bangladeshi general election which they said will be one sided and create a political crises.[8][9] Speakers at the event included Zillur Rahman, Manjur Ahmed Chowdhury, Debapriya Bhattacharya, M Sakhawat Hossain, Ali Imam Majumder, Salehuddin Ahmed, Muhammad Abdul Mazid, ZI Khan Panna, Ahsan H Mansur, and Nurul Kabir.[8]
On 21 April 2024, Somoy TV called Zillur Rahman, executive director of the Centre for Governance Studies, a US-funded rumour-monger.[10] In December 2023, the channel suggest Zillur Rahman was trying to create another 1/11 which refers to the 2006â2008 Bangladesh political crisis and the non-political interim government Fakhruddin Ahmed.[11] An evidence, it pointed out National Endowment for Democracy funding Centre for Governance Studies and Zillur Rahman praising Peter D. Haas, United States Ambassador to Bangladesh in an article.[11] It also pointed out in another article Zillur Rahman was working with Saimum Parvez, son of former Bangladesh Nationalist Party member of parliament Shahjahan Miah and who had written a paper for the media cell of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, on a project called Confronting Misinformation in Bangladesh funded by 2022 Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund of the United States Department of State.[12]
Centre for Governance Studies had organized a seminar called call to action against corruption with the Center for International Private Enterprise,[13] where United States Ambassador to Bangladesh Peter D. Haas said investment can increase through reduced corruption.[14][15]
Bangladesh Financial Intelligence Unit requested the bank account information of Zillur Rahman, executive director of Centre for Governance Studies and host of Tritiyo Matra on 9 August 2023.[16] The National Board of Revenue began an investigation against him on 23 November 2022.[16] The government of Bangladesh was criticized by Front Line Defenders.[16]
In June 2024, the Centre for Governance Studies published an investigative report on 1,410 cases under Digital Security Act, 2018 found 77.78% politicians filing cases under the act were from the Awami League.[17] Ali Riaz, member of Centre for Governance Studies, stated there were 7,001 cases against 21,867 people between 8 October 2018 and 31 January 2023 and 7,542 people were arrested in those cases.[17]
After Sheikh Hasina was overthrown, Zillur Rahman said the interim government should prioritize holding elections and not make any major policy decision.[18]