BNP leaders blocked from meeting Khaleda Zia on Eid

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and other party leaders have been unable to meet BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in prison on Eid day.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 16 June 2018, 08:38 AM
Updated : 16 June 2018, 08:38 AM

BNP leaders says a police blockade prevented them from even reaching the gates of the prison.

“Those who received permission to visit were let in, those who were not given permission were not allowed,” said DMP Lalbagh Division Deputy Commissioner Ibrahim Khan told bdnews24.com.

“We did not block anyone, but we took appropriate security measures to prevent a gathering.”

Prison authorities have not commented on whether the BNP had permission for the visits.

BNP leaders had previously announced that they would visit their party chief at the jail on Eid day.

Accordingly, BNP Secretary General Fakhrul and members of the BNP Standing Committee went to the prison on Nazim Uddin Road. But police had set up barricades nearly 0.5km from the prison gates and blocked their approach.

Nearly 200 BNP activists had accompanied the BNP leaders. In the face of the police blockade they obstructed the road and shouted slogans calling for Khaleda Zia’s release before leaving the area.

Mirza Fakhrul showed the media a permission form for a visit.

“Three days ago we applied for permission to visit,” he said. “The rules say prisoners can receive visitors on Eid day. But the police have blocked us. They are not allowing us anywhere near the gate. This is deeply sad.”

“Police are preventing us from going,” said BNP Standing Committee member Khondker Mosharraf Hossain. “This is not their job. It is their duty to take us to the jail authorities.”

“We have been jailed and spent many years behind bars,” said BNP Standing Committee member Mirza Abbas. “We know that on Eid day prisoners are allowed to meet with their friends and relatives. I have never seen such inhumane treatment before.”

BNP leaders Gayeshwar Chandra Roy, Nazrul Islam Khan, Selima Rahman, Barkatullah Bulu, Abdul Awal Mintu, AZM Zahid Hossain, Ahmed Azim Khan, Jainul Abedin Farukh, Shirin Sultana, Afroza Abbas and Sultana Ahmed Pramukh were also among the BNP delegation blocked from the prison.

The BNP has previously met with Khaleda Zia at the prison, but has also been blocked several times.

Inspector General of Prisons Syed Iftekhar Uddin had recently said that friends and relatives of the BNP chief would be able to visit her on Eid day and bring her food.

The BNP has said it is willing to stage fiercer protests calling for the release of Khaleda Zia.

The 73-year-old BNP chief was sentenced to five years in prison over the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case in February. Though she has received bail in the case, she has not been released because she has not secured bail in several other cases.

On several occasions the BNP has expressed its concern regarding Khaleda Zia’s health and repeatedly called for her to be released for treatment at Dhaka’s United Hospital.