Ershad demands trial of Anisul Islam Mahmud for his alleged link with 1/11 event

Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad has demanded trial of his party’s leader Anisul Islam Mahmud alleging that he was involved in the event called 1/11 that led to the 2007-08 military-backed caretaker government.

HM Ershad (blue shirt), GM Quader (left) and Anisul Islam Mahmud (white shirt) behind them. HM Ershad (blue shirt), GM Quader (left) and Anisul Islam Mahmud (white shirt) behind them.

HM Ershad addresses a Jatiya Party council in Sherpur on Sunday. HM Ershad addresses a Jatiya Party council in Sherpur on Sunday.

The Jatiya Party chief has made the demand at a time when the issue is back in discussion following Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam’s recent acknowledgement that he, at the time, ran DGFI-fed baseless corruption reports against Awami League Chief Sheikh Hasina, now the prime minister.

 

Anam has been sued in around 100 defamation cases across the country since he admitted his mistake.

 

Ershad told the party’s council in Sherpur on Sunday that ‘five’ have been named as ‘actors of 1/11’.

 

“One was not named. He is my Jatiya Party’s leader and the current government’s minister Anisul Islam Mahmud. He should also face trial,” Ershad said. 

 

Analysts believe there was a plot to banish Hasina and former prime minister BNP chief Khaleda Zia during the military-controlled caretaker government’s rule. The prime minister in a recent speech also spoke of such a plot.  

 

Ershad, an ousted military dictator, said, “Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia were chiefs of their own parties at the time. But barrister Anisul Islam Mahmud snatched the chairman’s post from me and became the acting chairman with the help of the army.”

 

In the recent polarisation within Jatiya Party, Mahmud sits with Ershad’s wife Raushon Ershad, the leader of the opposition in Parliament.

 

The conflict in the party came out in public when Ershad named his brother GM Quader as his successor in the party.