BNP claims implication of Tarique, Khaleda by Hasina is baseless

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's remark that Khaleda Zia and her son Tarique Rahman had roles in the August 21 grenade attack is baseless and it may influence the trial, the BNP said yesterday.

"When the head of the government makes such a comment over a sub-judice matter, there's a chance the trial would be influenced. We are concerned about [it]," BNP spokesman Asaduzzaman Ripon told the press at the party's Naya Paltan headquarters.

Addressing a rally on August 21 on the capital's Bangabandhu Avenue, where an Awami League rally came under a grenade attack on that day in 2004, Sheikh Hasina said she did not have any doubt about the involvement of BNP chief Khaleda Zia and her son in the bombing.

Ripon claimed that from the very beginning his party was demanding a neutral probe. "We want the government to bring the real criminals to book. But it will be very unfortunate if the government uses the case as a tool to harass the opposition," he said.

Tarique, who is staying in London since 2008, is one of the 52 people standing a trial in the case.

Referring to the prime minister's remarks, Ripon alleged that a vested quarter was trying to create a distance between Hasina and Khaleda.

APPEAL OF PAPIA'S CHILDREN

The children of BNP's ex-lawmaker Syeda Asifa Ashrafi Papia yesterday demanded her release, saying their education and family life were being hampered greatly due to her absence.

Her three children -- the eldest preparing for university admissions and the two others studying at school -- made the appeal through a briefing at the capital's Jatiya Press Club.

A Dhaka court sent Papia to jail on June 16 on her surrender before it in nine arson cases.