MP wants Khaleda's office moved from Gulshan diplomatic zone before SSC exams

A call has been made in Parliament to relocate BNP chief Khaleda Zia's Gulshan office from the sensitive diplomatic zone before the SSC examinations begin.

Dhaka-17 MP SM Abul Kalam Azad raised this demand during an unscheduled discussion on Tuesday.

The SSC and equivalent exams start from Feb 2.

Bangladesh Nationalist Front (BNF) Chairman Azad said if a political office is located in the diplomatic zone, it only raises the security hazards in view of the ongoing political turmoil.

"And for the last one month, the Gulshan Model School and College has remained closed because of this," he pointed out.

"The locals are very upset because the students are suffering. Their academic life is at stake."

Azad said all political party offices should be removed from Gulshan to ensure complete security for the diplomats.

"There is no way a political party which has unleashed a systematic campaign of violence across the country could be allowed to have an office in the capital's main diplomatic zone.

“From the security point of view, it is ill advised," said the lawmaker.

Anticipating more trouble during the SSC exams, Azad said Khaleda's Gulshan office should be relocated before the SSC exams.

The former prime minister called the nationwide nonstop transport blockade on Jan 5 after failing to organise anti-government programmes.

Since then, the blockade has spewed deadly violence in which at least 36 people have been killed. Most of them burned to death in arson attacks.

Khaleda is still adamant about continuing the programme despite the people's suffering until the government meets her party and its allies' demand for a snap election under a nonpartisan government.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid on Monday asserted that SSC exams would be organised on schedule even if the alliance continued with the blockade.