Hasina’s remarks on Khaleda are no less than sedition, says BNP

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has come down hard on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her remarks that the BNP chief is mentally unsound and possesses illegal assets abroad.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 11 Jan 2018, 10:18 AM
Updated : 11 Jan 2018, 11:10 AM

Uttering such baseless statements in parliament amounts to crimes as grave as sedition, Fakhrul said at a media briefing in Dhaka on Thursday.

The BNP chief has $750 million in Belgium, $250 million in Malaysia and owns houses 'worth millions of dollars' in Dubai and shopping malls in Saudi Arabia, Hasina alleged on Wednesday in her speech to parliament.

“There is no such property. The prime minister is trying to confuse people with her false statements. It’s a kind of sedition,” Fakhrul said.

He dismissed Hasina’s words as obscene, nonsensical, unthinking and contrary to basic norms and courtesy.

“She took an oath that she would not lie while performing duties as the prime minister but she did so and that too inside parliament.”

Reacting to Khaleda’s previous remarks that the construction of the Padma Bridge is nothing but a patchwork, Hasina once again questioned her intelligence on Wednesday.

“Such comments should not be paid heed to because a person with a sound mind cannot say such things,” she said in response to a question of Fazilatun Nasa Bappy MP during the question-answer session in parliament.

To this, Fakhrul warned the prime minister of being sued. “The condescending remarks are not only unacceptable but they have made people unsure about the upcoming general election.

“It’s the ruling party leaders who are suffering from mental illnesses as they dread Khaleda Zia. Usually we don’t say such things but the way she spoke about Khaleda Zia, she might get sued for defamation.”

He also flayed Hasina for telling the MPs that the BNP had been silent over media reports on Khaleda’s offshore properties. “That’s a lie. We did hold a press conference. We served a legal notice on her to which she is yet to respond.”

The army-backed caretaker government shattered democracy by taking over power on Jan 11, 2007, Fakhrul said recalling the day.

“That unconstitutional government led by Fakhruddin [Ahmed] has dragged the country into a political crisis and misery. It brought this illegitimate government to power through the controversial election of 2008. We recall the day with utter disgust.”