Dhaka, Sep 7 (bdnews24.com)—A senior BNP politician has called Moudud Ahmed, one of the main opposition's policymakers, 'opportunist' in a spat over the newly formed pro-BNP Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum's Supreme Court unit.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) vice-president Nazmul Huda has termed the newly formed committee of the Forum 'undemocratic'.
Referring to former law minister Moudud's chequered past, Huda, who was a communications minister, said, "Moudud has been an opportunist and enjoyed the fruits of power during the tenure of different regimes."
Huda called his party colleague a 'digbaaj', roughly meaning 'somersaulter' in Bengali, referring to Moudud's shifty political alliances.
He alleged that BNP standing committee member Moudud was responsible for the formation of the pro-BNP lawyers' forum.
"Mr Moudud is responsible for this. I suspect that the newly formed central committee of Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum's Supreme Court unit will create division among the [pro-BNP] lawyers."
Huda, himself a former president of Supreme Court lawyers' association, made the statement at a press conference on Tuesday.
Earlier on Aug 31, the central committee of Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum's Supreme Court unit was formed with Rafiqul Islam as its president and Mahbubuddin Khokon as secretary general.
Members of the committee claimed that BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia had approved of the committee.
However, Huda claimed that the committee was formed undemocratically. "The organisation is not a BNP organisation, but an associate organisation." Thus, he pointed out that according to the party charter, the party chairperson does not give the approval of any associate organisation.
"So the committee should be formed through democratic elections."
Noting that both Moudud and member secretary of the newly formed committee, Mahbubuddin, were from Noakhali, Huda said some of the Noakhali lawyers were trying to form a 'puppet committee'. They want to turn it into 'Noakhali Association'.
Huda was speaking at a press conference at the National Press Club under the banner of 'Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum' where BNP's legal affairs secretary Ziaur Rahman Khan read out the keynote.
However, Khan claimed that he knew nothing of the committee.
When asked for his reaction on Huda's press conference, Mahbubuddin told bdnews24.com: "BNP chairperson has given approval of the committee. She is expected to return on Sep 9 after Umra. I don't want to comment on the issue before then."
Moudud could not be contacted for comments as he is currently in Germany.
PLAYING CHEQUERS
Moudud's political career extends to even before the Independence War of 1971. He was involved in organising Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's defence in the Agartala Conspiracy Case of the late 1960's where Mujib was charged with sedition.
After the war, Moudud was made the first Post Master General of the country in 1972.
He joined BNP when it was founded and became a minister and deputy-prime minister in military strongman Ziaur Rahman's cabinet.
During the nine-year tenure of the deposed military dictator Hussein Muhammad Ershad, he served as minister, deputy-prime minister, prime minister and vice-president.
He ran in the seventh parliamentary elections in 1996 from Jatiya Party, but lost, after which he joined the BNP again and ran in the by-elections from a Lakkhipur constituency, which BNP chief Khaleda Zia had carried and later gave up to accommodate the former BNP man's return.
However, Moudud lost the by-elections too. In the eighth parliamentary elections of 2001, he won and served the BNP-led government as law minister.
However, Moudud lost the ninth parliamentary elections held on Dec 29, 2008 from Noakhali. Later he won in the by-election from a parliamentary seat in Bogra, again a seat that Khaleda had won and later vacated.
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