Friday, February 7

Tarique sued for calling Sheikh Mujib ‘Pakbandhu’


In this file photo, BNP Senior Vice Chairman Tarique Rahman addresses a programme in London. Photo: Courtesy

In this file photo, BNP Senior Vice Chairman Tarique Rahman addresses a programme in London. Photo: Courtesy

News Desk: A sedition case was filed against BNP Senior Vice Chairman Tarique Rahman today for terming Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman as “Pakbandhu (Friend of Pakistan)”.

Advocate Moshiur Rahman Malek, president of Bangabandhu Foundation, filed the case with the Court of Chief Metropolitan Magistrate in Dhaka.

After hearing the charges brought against Tarique, Metropolitan Magistrate Asaduzzaman Nur ordered Detective Brach of police to submit a probe report on the issue on October 30 after investigation.

In the meantime, it also asked the complainant to seek home ministry permission to file the case as it is a mandatory for bringing any sedition charge.

In his complaint, Malek alleged that Tarique recently at a discussion in London termed Sheikh Mujib a “Pakbandhu”.

“Sheikh Mujibur Rahman cannot be the Father of the Nation. He returned to the country with a Pakistani passport. Someone who accepts Pakistani passport even after Bangladesh’s independence is a citizen of that country in the eyes of the law,” Tarique said at the discussion held at York Hall in East London on September 29.

“One day it will have to be explained how a Pakistani citizen became a president or prime minister of Bangladesh,” the BNP leader warned.

Condemning filing of the case, BNP acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir termed it “false and baseless” lawsuit and demanded for its immediate withdrawal.

Fakhrul was giving his reaction in front of the media at BNP’s Nayapaltan central office.