Quader refers to record of phone call as Fakhrul denies requesting Khaleda’s parole

Obaidul Quader has said he is ready to give evidence of Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir’s phone call in which the BNP secretary general purportedly requested him to convey an appeal for its jailed chief Khaleda Zia’s release to Sheikh Hasina.

The Awami League general secretary referred to the record when journalists asked for his comments on Mirza Fakhrul’s claim that the two leaders did not discuss Khaleda’s parole during the conversation.

“He [Mirza Fakhrul] had talked to me and there is a record of the conversation. I don’t want to lower myself further. Why is he lowering himself?” he asked while responding to a reporter’s question during a news conference at the Awami League headquarters in Dhaka on Tuesday.

Mirza Fakhrul called him with a request to convey an appeal for Khaleda’s freedom to the prime minister, Quader had told the media five days ago.

But on Tuesday, the BNP secretary general told the media: “We didn’t speak about any parole as of now, did we? We never did. We will decide if it will be appropriate to talk about this issue.”

In reaction to Fakhrul’s claim, Quader asked, “Why would I lie?”

“Does he [Fakhrul] want to prove that he hadn’t made the request to me? Then I will give evidence. The phone conversation will no longer be secret. It can be provided. Isn’t there a record? I don’t want to belittle him,” he added.