Arrest '1/11 architects', show sincerity

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia last night said if the government was sincere about trying the "architects" of the 1/11 changeover, it should arrest and put them behind bars.

She said, "Masud [Lieutenant General Masud Uddin Chowdhury] was in Australia. Who gave him extensions [as high commissioner]? This government. He's in the country now. Why is he not being caught?"

Khaleda added that she has heard Hasan Mashhud Chowdhury (former Anti-Corruption Commission chairman) too is in the country.

"Why are they not being picked up? You should arrest them to prove that you mean it [trying them]," she told a programme at her Gulshan office.

The BNP chief also claimed Sheikh Hasina cannot dodge the responsibility for bringing in the military-backed caretaker government.

She alleged the incumbent government is oppressing the BNP men brutally and that it is "worse than the 1/11 government".   

She was addressing a programme at her Gulshan office. The Chittagong district unit of Ziaur Rahman Foundation organised the programme to provide financial assistance to the family members of party men who were killed during the anti-government movement.

The BNP chairperson said, "She [Hasina] mentioned the minus-two formula. If we had been [two leaders] together, none would have dared taking over power and putting us behind bars. It would not have been necessary for the Awami League to collude with them [1/11 government] to assume power."

Khaleda claimed that as she did not cooperate with the then caretaker government, she had to spend a year and eight days in jail.

She said Awami League chief Hasina joined the oath-taking ceremony of the 1/11 government and told the media that the government was a result of the AL's movement.