Look at the past, Fakhrul tells Hasina

Acting BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Wednesday slated Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her recent comments over US newspaper article by opposition chief Khaleda Zia.

The Prime Minister on Wednesday told Parliament that through the Jan 27 article in the Washington Times, Khaleda intended to invite a super power to ‘punish’ Bangladesh.

“The remarks by the Prime Minister are baseless. She often makes such allegations,” Fakhrul told reporters in response to Hasina’s comment.

The BNP spokesperson, who was released from jail after 54 days in arson cases, talked about Hasina’s ‘sending letters to several ambassadors’ when she was the opposition leader.

“I’d like to tell the Prime Minister, please look into your past. When you were the opposition leader you wrote to several international organisations and embassies against the then BNP government,” he claimed.

Fakhrul went to Ibrahim Cardiac Hospital at Shahbagh to visit his party’s Standing Committee Member Tariqul Islam.

Islam suffered a cardiac arrest and was admitted there on Monday.

He also alleged the Awami League chief had complained to the United Nations and other international organisations on several occasions prior to Jan 11, 2007 against the then BNP-led alliance government.

On Jan 11 2007, former President Iajuddin Ahmed had declared a state of emergency amid formation of an army-backed ‘caretaker government’ led by former Bangladesh Bank Governor Fakhruddin Ahmed.

Backing Khaleda for the article, he said,” The BNP leader wrote the article to uphold the current practical state of the country. She (Khaleda) can do that as a citizen.”

Khaleda had expressed concern about the future of democracy in Bangladesh and invited foreign countries including the United States to intervene in Bangladesh in her article.