Officials and staff of Benapole Customs House are once again observing a pen-down strike, demanding the removal of National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Abdur Rahman Khan.
On Tuesday, the strike began at 9am and continued until 2pm, as a show of solidarity with the central leadership of the NBR Reform Unity Council.
Despite the strike, import-export operations at the Benapole-Petrapole land port and international passenger services at the check post continued, confirmed Rajon Hossain, Assistant Commissioner of Benapole Customs House.
According to sources, no customs clearance work related to import-export was carried out at Benapole Customs House during the five-hour strike. The online customs server was also inactive, preventing the submission of any bills of entry. Authorities stated that operations would resume after 2pm.
Due to the pen-down strike, no new Import General Manifest (IGM) was issued. However, goods covered under previously issued IGMs were processed. New IGMs will be issued after the strike ends at 2 pm.
Speaking anonymously, one customs officer said, “The NBR Chairman must be removed immediately. The NBR Reform Unity Council must be properly represented in the newly formed committee. All forms of retaliatory transfers and harassment must stop. That’s why, like other customs houses across the country, Benapole Customs House is also observing a five-hour strike.”
He added that the pen-down strike would continue until the central demands are met and that they would follow any decisions made by the central reform council.
On May 12, the government issued an ordinance to split the NBR into two parts. In protest, customs, VAT, and income tax officials under NBR staged sit-ins and pen-down strikes until May 26.
Later, on the night of May 25, the Ministry of Finance announced in a press release that the NBR would not be abolished but would instead be upgraded to an “independent and specialised” institution. Following this, the officials withdrew their strike on May 26.
However, the NBR Reform Unity Council continued to demand the chairman’s removal and declared a stance of non-cooperation against him.