Govt firm to try war criminals, Tarique, Koko: Ashraf
The government is committed to hold trials of war criminals, Tarique Rahman and Arafat Rahman Koko even if BNP enforces hartal or resorts to vandalism, said Awami League (AL) General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam yesterday.
He was speaking at a press briefing at the party chief's political office in Dhanmondi.
He said BNP and Jamaat are the two sides of the same coin. They enforced the 48-hour hartal in a bid to save Tarique, an accused in August 21 grenade attack case, and Koko, a convict in money laundering case, and the war criminals, he said.
“There is no provision in our constitution that the sons of kings or queens (Tarique and Koko) will commit crimes and they would not be tried. So BNP would not be able to save them by enforcing hartal, be it short or extended.
“Their (Tarique, Koko, and war criminals) trials will be held on the soil of Bangladesh within this tenure,” said Ashraf, also Local Government and Rural Development & Cooperatives minister.
He said the 12 “fundamentalist” parties called a 30-hour hartal starting Sunday after meeting with opposition leader Khaleda Zia at her office recently.
“Members of international extremist groups like Harkat-ul Jihad al Islami and Hizb ut-Tahrir, who earlier resorted to bomb blasts in the country, among others, were present at the meeting chaired by Khaleda Zia,” claimed the minister.
Abolishment of the caretaker government system from the constitution is not BNP's main issue. Rather BNP wants to make Bangladesh a “second edition” of Pakistan, he said.
“Khaleda Zia wants to destroy Bangladesh's sovereignty and make it a part of Pakistan again,” he said.
“BNP-Jamaat never accepted the independence of the country and wants to destroy the sprit of the War of Liberation,” he said, referring to an attack on Muktijoddha Sangsad's office in Hossainpur upazila of Kishoreganj district yesterday.
He said the BNP-Jamaat men attacked the office and ransacked the portraits of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and seven Bir Shresthas there. “The attack is significant,” he said.
ATTACK ON FARROQUE CONDEMNED
Condemning the police attack on Opposition Chief Whip Zainul Abdin Farroque, Ashraf said if police break the law, they would not be spared and must face trial.
“If anyone (police) does excesses, he/she will face trial as per the law. Everyone must abide by the law or face consequences,” he said.
AL leaders Mahbubul Alam Hanif, AFM Bahauddin Nasim, Ahmed Hossain, Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, Abu Sayeed Al Mahmud Swapon and Nuh-ul-Alam Lenin were also present at the briefing.
Meanwhile, BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir at a press briefing at BNP central office yesterday rejected the statements made by the ruling party leaders on why they called hartal saying “they are playing their old cassette”.
“They (ruling party leaders) have nothing to say except those as they want to divert public attention from their failure to solve existing multifaceted problems and undermine the ongoing anti-government movement,” he said.
He rejected the probe body formed by the government and bitterly criticised the government for its silence over the police attack on the opposition chief whip. The home minister's statement indicates that the government was involved, he said.
He asked the government to properly record the case for assaulting Farroque, otherwise they would file legal complaints.
For all latest news, follow The Daily Star's Google News channel.
Comments