Amini defends 'dustbin' remarks

Dhaka, July 23 (bdnews24.com) — Chairman of a faction of Islami Oikya Jote (IOJ) Mufti Fazlul Haque Amini has said his remark on the constitution was 'political'.

"The speech carried a symbolic meaning. I said that people will throw the constitution, from where the name of Allah has been dropped, into dustbin," he said at a press briefing at the party's Lalbagh headquarters on Saturday.

Amini defended his remarks following queries from the media over the High Court ruling asking him to appear before it on July 27 for explaining his remark.

Amini, chief of the Islamic Law Implementation Committee, on Friday said his remarks were over the 15th amendment to the constitution through which 'the ruling party had made it controversial'.

"Many words are used metaphorically in political parlance. Throwing to the dustbin meant people will reject it," he said.

The petition, filed by Ekatturer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee president Shahriar Kabir, alleges that Amini on July 14 told a discussion that 'the constitution should not only be thrown away but thrown into the dustbin'.

Earlier, in another controversial comment, BNP chief Khaleda Zia on July 13 said that the recent amendments to the constitution were Awami League 's own agenda, so her party would throw them away once in office.

At the media briefing, Amini on Saturday said, "The speech, over which the High Court summoned me, was a political one. Remarks like these were never implemented and won't happen in the future too."

He said 'throwing the constitution to dustbin' in fact meant that "the people in future will reject the 15th amendment made in the constitution with abhorrence, and if we or anyone else come to power will drop the amendments and restore the previous one".

Party secretary-general Abdul Latif Nezami, joint secretary-general Mohammad Toyab and publicity secretary Ohiullah Wasel were also present at the briefing.

bdnews24.com/arr/ra/pks/nir/2345h