Court rejects Bangabandhu statue vandalism case against Khaleda, Tarique

A Dhaka court has rejected a plea to file a defamation case against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman on charges of instigating the vandalism of Bangabandhu’s statue in Kushtia.

The plea sought to implicate BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, Hifazat-e Islam chief Junaid Babunagari, Khelafat Majlish Acting Secretary General Mamunul Haque and Islami Andolan chief Sayed Faizul Karim. The court declined to accept the charges against them as well.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Satyabrata Sikder passed the orders on Thursday after hearing the petitioner’s statement on Wednesday.

“The case does not explain how the petitioner was aggrieved. The judge rejected the plea as there was no merit in the case,” said the court’s clerk Sirajul Islam.

AB Siddiqui, president of Jananetri Parishad, submitted the case petition for violation of the Penal Code to the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrates Court on Wednesday.

“Anti-liberation collaborators of Pakistan, who are led by Khaleda Zia, broke down an arm of a statue of the Father of the Nation in Kushtia on Dec 4 night and an ear of the statue at Madhu’s Canteen of Dhaka University by using Islamist militant goons as part of a conspiracy to foil independence and sovereignty, and turn Bangladesh into Pakistan,” Siddiqui said in the complaint.

He also sought arrest warrants for those named in the petition. He has filed seven cases against Khaleda and 10 against Tarique in total.

Mamunul had threatened to stop construction of Bangabandhu’s statues and rid Bangladesh of all sculptures at a programme in Dhaka on Nov 13, according to the complaint.

Babunagari, speaking at a religious gathering in Chattogram’s Hathazari on Nov 27, had threatened to carry out mayhem like the one Hifazat unleashed on May 5, 2013 in Dhaka’s Motijheel, Siddiqui said.

Faizul, at a rally outside the Baitul Mukarram National Mosque on the same day, threatened to tear down Bangabandhu’s statue and dump the debris in the Buriganga river, and call a gathering in Motijheel again, the complaint said.