Politics
Khaleda undergoes required medical tests at Evercare
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia underwent some medical tests at Evercare Hospital in the city on Monday, as a follow-up after coronary angioplasty.
“Madam (Khaleda) was taken to the hospital for some medical tests as per the advice of the medical board. She underwent Echo, ECG, USG, X-ray and some other blood tests,” said her personal physician Dr AZM Zahid Hossain.
Talking to reporters in front of the BNP chief’s Gulshan office, he also said Khaleda was supposed to undergo follow-up tests within four-to-six weeks of her angioplasty, that was done on June 11 - almost 10 weeks back.
“We could not do it at the right time," Zahid confessed. "So, she was taken to the hospital for those tests today (Monday) as a routine check-up on an urgent basis. Some tests were conducted today while some other tests will be done later after reviewing the reports."
The physician is hopeful of receiving all the test reports by Wednesday.
Zahid said Khaleda has been receiving treatment at her residence under the supervision of the medical board formed for the purpose.
He said the medical board members will also visit the BNP chief further and determine the next course of her treatment after examining the latest test reports.
Read: Seeking India’s help to stay in power against Bangladesh's interests, dignity: BNP
Dr Zahid said Khaleda Zia has liver, lung, arthritis, diabetes, hypertension and some other health problems. “There is no improvement in these problems.”
Stating that the BNP chief had three blocks in her arteries, he noted that only a stent was placed in her left coronary artery, opening up a passage that had recorded 95 percent blockage in one of the arteries. “The two other blocks remain in her left and middle arteries.”
He said the medical board again opined that the BNP chief’s treatment at a multidisciplinary advanced medical centre abroad is very urgent, due to her multiple chronic diseases and health problems.
Earlier, the BNP chief reached the hospital from her Gulshan residence around 4:45pm and underwent the medical tests. She left the hospital around 7:10pm and reached her residence at 7:55pm.
Khaleda, a 77-year-old former prime minister, has been suffering from various ailments.
On June 10, the BNP chief suffered a heart attack due to a 95 percent block in her left artery and a stent was placed there by removing the blockage at the same hospital the following day.
Khaleda was sent to the Old Dhaka Central Jail as a lower court sentenced her to five years' imprisonment in the Zia Orphanage Trust corruption case on February 8, 2018. Later, she was found guilty in another corruption case the same year.
Amid the coronavirus outbreak, the government temporarily freed Khaleda Zia from jail through an executive order suspending her sentence on March 25, 2020, attaching the conditions that she would stay at her Gulshan house, and would not leave the country.
Seeking India’s help to stay in power against Bangladesh's interests, dignity: BNP
BNP on Sunday said Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen’s plea to India to keep the Awami League government in power is against the interests and dignity of an independent and sovereign country.
Speaking at a press conference at BNP’s Nayapaltan central office, party senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said the foreign minister just created a ground for Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to seek India’s favour during her visit to New Delhi next month to prop up her government again without voting.
He also said the government has been indulging in a plot against the country’s independence and sovereignty.
Also read: Fakhrul calls for ‘unbreakable’ unity to restore democracy
“Bangladesh is an independent sovereign state, not an organ of any other state. It depends on the desire of people whether or not the government of the People's Republic of Bangladesh remains in power,” the BNP leader said.
Earlier at a Janmashtami programme in Chattogram on Thursday, FM Momen reportedly said that he urged the Indian government to back Hasina so she can stay in power.
Rizvi said the foreign minister’s remark has exposed the government’s knee-jerk foreign policy.
In the wake of the ministers’ different comments on his statement, the BNP leader said the foreign minister reaffirmed that he did not say anything wrong and he took the responsibility for what he said.
“Sheikh Hasina has entrusted him (Momen) with the responsibility for lobbying in this regard. Sheikh Hasina is going to India in September to curry its favour to remain in power. Abdul Momen has created the ground for it,” he observed.
Also read: BNP demands explanation of Momen's statement on India
Slamming the ruling party leaders for their comments that Momen is no one of the Awami League, Rizvi said the foreign minister became the MP from Sylhet city seat with the party ticket as he is the No-1 member of the Awami League’s Sylhet city unit. “He (Momen) did not give his statement personally as he did it using the position of the foreign minister.”
He said the foreign minister's statement has made it clear to the people that the current government is staying in power with the help of foreign governments. “The foreign minister has also made it clear that they want to remain in power without voting in the days to come. The government has become an enemy of the people because it has been in power by force at gunpoint for 13 years with the help of different countries.”
Fakhrul calls for ‘unbreakable’ unity to restore democracy
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Saturday urged people of all communities, including the Hindus, to forge ‘unbreakable’ unity to restore democracy in the country.
"There will never be peace and no community or individual will be safe in a country where democracy is not established,” he said
Stating that democracy is now absent in the country, the BNP leader said the current government has snatched people’s all rights, including the right to vote, to establish a one-party rule and hang on to power.
"What we now need is our unbreakable unity. We all political parties and all communities, including Hindu, Muslim, Buddhist and Christian, should unite to establish our right for which we fought in 1971, and to bring back our right to freedom, our right to sovereignty and our democratic rights,” he said.
The BNP Secretary General made the call while exchanging greetings with the leaders of the Hindu community at the BNP chairperson's Gulshan office on the occasion of Janmashtami, marking the birth of Lord Krishna.
Read: AL set to observe 18th anniversary of August 21 grenade attack on Sunday
Fakhrul alleged that the Hindu community members have been tortured while their temples and places of worship have been attacked repeatedly since Awami League came to power. “Not only the Hindu community has been attacked but also the Buddhist and Christian communities have been attacked equally. That is the reality.”
He said Lord Krishna appeared on this earth to take mankind from darkness to the light alongside restoring the rights of people that were snatched by the oppressors. “The situation prevailing in Bangladesh now has the similarity in many ways with the time when Lord Krishna appeared."
On behalf of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and Acting Chairman Tariq Rahman, Fakhrul greeted the members of the Hindu community on the occasion of Janmashtami.
BNP standing committee members Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Mirza Abbas, Abdul Moyeen Khan, and Amir Khosru Mahmud Chowdhury, party leaders Netai Roy Chowdhury, Sukomal Barua, Jayant Kumar Kund, Aparna Roy, Ramesh Dutta, Sushil Barua, Debashish Roy Madhu, Kamaksha Chandra Das, Tarun Dey, Milton Baidya, Joydeb Joy, Suranjan Ghosh and Ganoforum leader Subrata Chowdhury were among others, present at the programme chaired by BNP chairperson's advisory council member Bijan Kanti Sarkar.
AL set to observe 18th anniversary of August 21 grenade attack on Sunday
The ruling Awami League, its front and associate bodies will observe the eighteenth anniversary of August 21 grenade attacks.
The grenade attack on an Awami League (AL) anti-terrorism rally in the capital was carried out on August 21, 2004 during the BNP-Jamaat coalition government on Bangabandhu Avenue.
They have chalked out elaborate programmes across the country, maintaining health guidelines in wake of the COVID-19 situation.
According to Press release, a discussion will be held at 10:30 am to recall the victims of the dreadful in memory of those killed in the August 21 grenade attacks.
Also read: 17th anniversary of Grenade Attack on AL rally beckons
Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will preside over it.
Earlier, wreath will be placed at the altar build for the 21 August martyrs in front of the Awami League central office at Bangabandhu Avenue tomorrow.
General Secretary of Awami League and Minister of Road Transport Obaidul Quader called upon the leaders, workers, supporters and well-wishers of Awami League and its allies and fraternal organizations at all levels to observe the Grenade Attack Day on August 21 with due dignity along with the countrymen following the health rules.
24 people including the then Women Affairs Secretary of Awami League and wife of late President Zillur Rahman were killed and over 500 others injured in the attack and many of them became crippled for life.
Also read: Nation remembers Aug 21 grenade attack victims
Those were killed in the grenade attack are- the then opposition leader's personal security guard Lance Corporal (retd) Mahbubur Rashid, Abul Kalam Azad, Rezina Begum, Nasir Uddin Sardar, Atique Sarkar, Abdul Kuddus Patwari, Aminul Islam Moazzem, Belal Hossain, Mamun Mridha, Ratan Shikdar, Liton Munshi, Hasina Mamtaz Reena, Sufia Begum, Rafiqul Islam (Ada Chacha), Mostaque Ahmed Sentu, Md Hanif, Abul Kashem, Zahed Ali, Momen Ali, M Shamsuddin and Ishaque Miah.
Those who suffered serious splinter injuries included Sheikh Hasina, Amir Hossain Amu, Abdur Razzak, Suranjit Sengupta, Obaidul Quader, Advocate Sahara Khatun, Mohammad Hanif, Prof Abu Sayeed, and AFM Bahauddin Nasim.
AL's strength drawn from the people: Info Minister
Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Friday said their party is not dependent on any foreign force, rather the people of Bangladesh are the key source of the Awami League's strength.
"We have good relations with all countries and India is our true friend".
The Minister made these remarks while addressing a discussion meeting on 'Bangabandhu Assassination: Politics of Post-75 Bangladesh' marking the 47th Martyrdom Anniversary and National Mourning Day of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at the Bangabandhu Hall of Chittagong Press Club on Friday evening.
Recalling August 15, Hasan, also AL joint general secretary said, 'Imam Hussain was slaughtered in Karbala but no women and children were killed there.
On August 15, 1975, 10-year-old child Sheikh Russell, four-year-old Sukanto Babu, and 11-year-old Baby Serniabat were killed. Even pregnant Begum Arzoo Moni did not escape the killers.
“A crime against humanity was indeed committed that day,” added the minister.
Read: Moscow reaffirms its commitment to strengthen cooperation with Dhaka
Now, it is our responsibility to unmask the conspirators involved in the August 15 massacre including Ziaur Rahman and his family members, who are the most beneficiaries of this massacre.
“They are still continuing their conspiracies as the country heading towards another national election”, he added.
M A Salam, president of Chattogram North District Awami League presided over the meeting while Joint General Secretary Debashish Palit moderated the meeting.
General Secretary Sheikh Mohammad Ataur Rahman, Vice President Hero Freedom Fighter Professor Mohammad Moinuddin, Abul Kalam Azad, ATM Payrul Islam, Mohiuddin Ahmed Rashed, Swajan Kumar Talukder, among others, spoke.
BNP demands explanation of Momen's statement on India
Questioning whether the Awami League government has been in power at the "mercy" of India, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Monday demanded an explanation of the foreign minister's recent statement on seeking India's backing to keep PM Sheikh Hasina in power.
"Ministers from a rally of Awami League in Dhaka issued various threats and used terrorist language. When you're issuing so many threats, then why does your foreign minister seek India's help to sustain your government and your prime minister?" he said.
Speaking at a discussion, the BNP leader said their party wants an explanation of the foreign minister's statement. “We want to know from the government, the foreign minister and also from the Indian government what is the meaning of what the foreign minister said? Does it mean that this government is sustaining with India’s backing? People want to know the meaning of this. It's urgent.”
He also said questions have been raised about whether Bangladesh will really be an independent state or not, whether Bangladesh will really be a democratic country or not and whether the people of Bangladesh will get back their rights or not.
Since it came to power, Fakhrul said, Awami League has snatched the rights of the people of Bangladesh in a very well-planned way while the constitution has been amended annulling the provisions of the caretaker government and depriving people of their scope to vote and elect their representatives every five years.
Jatiyatabadi Swechchasebak Dal arranged the discussion at the Jatiya Press Club marking its 42nd founding anniversary.
Earlier at a Janmashtami programme in Chattogram on Thursday, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen reportedly said that he urged the Indian government to back Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina so that she can stay in power.
About the killing of five people in a girder accident in the city's Uttara area on Monday, Fakhrul said arresting the crane operator, security guard, and other staff is not enough.
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader and the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project director will have to be made accountable for the incident, he added. "No action has been taken against them so far."
The BNP leader said Obaidul Quader used to make many ‘unguarded’ comments about his political opponents, but many people die in road accidents every day as there is no discipline and rules anywhere. “There is no good governance. They (AL leaders) are only plundering from everywhere.”
He said the UN Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet in her statement said they have found evidence of Rapid Action Battalion or RAB's involvement in human rights violations and enforced disappearances.
“We want to find the missing people immediately. We also want an impartial investigation into the incidents of human rights violations, including enforced disappearance,” the BNP leader said.
Fakhrul urged the ruling party to face BNP on the streets politically after quitting power. “You have to step down. One can talk a lot by staying in power. Quit power, then you will understand how much strength you have and how many people are on your side in the country.”
He also said Awami League has become an ‘enemy’ of the people in Bangladesh by destroying democracy.
“This government can’t be given any more time. We’re not willing to give Awami League any more time. We must forge the unity of the people and take over the streets at the same time to defeat this regime. We are moving towards that goal,” Fakhrul said.
Momen's India remarks have no link with AL: Quader
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader on Friday said the Awami League has never requested India to provide the party with support to stay in power.
"The Awami League has never requested India to provide support to us to stay in power and no one has been given responsibility by Sheikh Hasina to say it. This may be one's personal opinion," he said.
Also read: I told India to help maintain stability in Bangladesh, Momen clarifies
He said this after inaugurating the central Janmashtami procession at Palashi intersection in the capital on Friday.
He commented that Bangladesh has no hostile relationship with India, and the country had been harmed by its hostility with India in the past
He also said that there were no communal attacks except for a few isolated incidents after Hasina's government came to power.
Also read: Requested India to help Bangladesh maintain stability, harmony: Momen
Those who attacked the Hindu community were miscreants,he added.
Human Rights Violation: BNP wants impendent probe under UN supervision
In tune with UN Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet, BNP on Thursday demanded an independent investigation into the incidents of human rights violations, including enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings, under the supervision of the UN.
“More than 600 political leaders and activists, civil society members and labour leaders have been subjected to enforced disappearance. Most of them were not found…enforced disappearance is a crime against humanity. Making a person disappear by the state is a grievous offence. It can’t be accepted. So, this type of crime should be investigated,” said BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
Talking to reporters at BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office, he said the UN Human Rights Commissioner rightly said a fair, neutral and independent inquiry must be carried out into the incidents and those involved in such crimes will have to be brought to justice.
Also read: BNP meets UN Human Rights Commission's Asia-Pacific chief
The BNP leader said Bachelet also talked about the Rapid Action Battalion’s involvement with such incidents.
“We want an independent investigation under the supervision of the UN into the incidents to reveal the truth and take action against all those to be found involved (with the human rights violations),” he said.
Fakhrul said the UN rights chief's statements on enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and the human rights situations in Bangladesh have proved the truth of what the BNP has long been saying about the matters.
“We’ve long been saying that the enforced disappearances, killings and extrajudicial killings have been taking place with state patron. It’s a big problem,” he said.
Stating that people in Bangladesh were not known to the world of enforced disappearance, Fakhrul said it was Awami League which introduced enforced disappearance in the country after returning to power in 2008.
Referring to Awami League general secretary Obaidul Quader’s remark that the United Nations has no jurisdiction to investigate any incidents of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in Bangladesh, Fakhrul said the ruling party leader ostensibly admitted that these incidents happened here through his comment.
Earlier at a press conference on Wednesday, UN Human Rights Commissioner Michelle Bachelet voiced deep concerns over the allegations of enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings and torture in Bangladesh.
Also read: BNP renews call for Khaleda’s unconditional release
She also spoke of a neutral, independent and transparent investigation into the allegations, saying her office is ready to provide advice on how such a mechanism could be designed in line with international standards.
Replying to a question, Fakhrul said there is no atmosphere in the country to engage in talks with the ruling party over the country's political crisis.
“The political crisis here can't be resolved until our chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia is released, the cases (filed against our leaders and activists) are withdrawn and until this government resigns handing over power to a neutral caretaker government and dissolving Parliament,” he said.
Trashing some media reports on BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia’s worsening health condition, Fakhrul said she is now doing well and all the parameters of her health are good.
“I've talked to doctors they said she has no new major problem. Basically, she is ill with various health complications. But nothing new happened to take her to a hospital. Her condition has deteriorated further," he said.
BNP meets UN Human Rights Commission's Asia-Pacific chief
A BNP delegation on Wednesday met Rory Mungoven, the head of UN Human Rights Commission's (OHCHR) Asia-Pacific section, at a city hotel and discussed the country’s human rights situation.
The four-member BNP delegation, led by the party’s human rights affairs secretary Advocate Asaduzzaman Asad, had around an hour-long meeting starting at 1:30pm with Mungoven at Hotel Intercontinental.
The other members of the delegation are Shyama Obaid, Tabith Awal and Barrister Abrar Ilias.
Read:BNP renews call for Khaleda’s unconditional release
Taking to reporters after the meeting, Asad said they talked about the human rights situation in Bangladesh at the meeting.
“We have explained the human rights situation in Bangladesh and talked about different incidents of human rights violation that were reported in the media,” he said.
Asked whether Mungoven made any comment about the human right situation in Bangladesh, he said, “He heard our speeches, but didn’t give any feedback. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights may talk about it during her press conference today (Wednesday).”
Shyama Obaid said they talked about the overall human rights situation of the country.
“We met Mungoven and gave our observations about the human rights condition. As UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet did not meet any politician in Bangladesh, we met her team member Mungoven,” he said.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet arrived in Dhaka on August 14 on a four-day visit as Bangladesh looks forward to having a "constructive dialogue" with her for the promotion and protection of human rights.
It seems Bangladesh is paradise of mismanagement: GM Quader
Expressing profound shock at the loss of 11 lives in two separate incidents in the capital on Monday, Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader on Tuesday said Bangladesh has apparently become a paradise of mismanagement.
In a condolence message, he said, “It seems that Bangladesh will be the world champion in mismanagement if a survey is conducted.”
GM Quader, also the deputy opposition leader in parliament, said it has become normal that countless mothers will lose their children every day due to negligence and mismanagement.
“Accidents have now become an order of the day be it on roads, waterways or in industrial plants or any public places. It can’t continue like this and it can’t be allowed to go on like this,” he observed.
Read:Accept tea workers' logical demand for pay hike: GM Quader
The Jatiya Party chief said the government must make public the investigation reports into the two incidents--girder crash at Uttara and a plastic factory fire at Chawkbazar in Dhaka.
He also called upon the authorities concerned to take legal action against those responsible for the incidents.
“Such heartbreaking deaths are unacceptable. The areas where heavy and hazardous work is going on should be protected and restricted. It has to be investigated for whose negligence the vulnerable site (of the BRT project) was not restricted and legal action should be taken against them,” the Jatiya Party chief said.
Besides, he said many people are losing lives in fire incidents, including six people at Chawkbazar on Monday. “It seems there’s no one to be held accountable for the incidents.
On Monday, five members of a family were killed as a girder of the BRT project lifted by a crane crashed on a private car in the city’s Uttara area.
Earlier in the day, at least six people were burnt to death in a fire that broke out at a plastic factory in Old Dhaka’s Chawkbazar area.