Leave Bangladesh or get treated for mental problem: Minister Matia to chief justice

Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury has given Chief Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha two options: he must leave Bangladesh or face treatment at a mental hospital, as the war of words over the 16th constitutional amendment verdict peaks.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 27 August 2017, 05:32 PM
Updated : 27 August 2017, 05:32 PM

"You don't like anything of Bangladesh; then you can either leave the country or get treatment in Hemayetpur," the minister said at a demonstration against some of Justice Sinha's observations in the verdict on Sunday.  

"The mental hospital at Hemayetpur (in Pabna) has not been commissioned for nothing," she said at the protest held in front of the National Press Club in Dhaka.

Ruling Awami League leaders, including ministers and MPs, and even Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, have been criticising harshly the chief justice for the observations in the appeals verdict declaring the 16th amendment illegal.

The verdict has revived the Supreme Judicial Council in place of parliament to sack top judges on grounds of incompetency and misconduct.

The Awami League leaders allege that Justice Sinha belittled the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and parliament. They and the affiliates of the party have demanded his resignation.

Bangladesh Medical Association organised the demonstration in front of the Press Club, alleging that the chief justice undermined the medical system.

"You have made many irrelevant comments in the verdict. You are scheming...(You mentioned in the verdict) Fathers of the Nation! A woman identifies her children with only one father. A woman can have several husbands, that's your personal issue," Minister Matia said at the programme.

"There is only one Father of the Nation - and that is Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, no one else. And you've said these things in the month of August. You’re contriving!" she added.   

Bangabandhu was assassinated along with most members of his family on Aug 15, 1975.

BMA President Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin, General Secretary Ehteshamul Haque Chowdhury Dulal, Awami League Health Secretary Rokeya Sultana, and Swadhinata Chikitsak Parishad or Swachip President Iqbal Arslan, among others, spoke at the programme.