Govt doesn’t intend to harass

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The interim government on Thursday sought cooperation of the major political parties to lead the country towards holding a free and fair election.
An adviser to the interim administration said that it had no intention to harass Awami League president Sheikh Hasina or BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia on any ground.
‘We will ensure that former premiers Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia are not harassed as they are very important persons in the country. We rather need cooperation of the political parties to lead the country towards holding a free and fair election,’ the communications adviser, MA Matin, told reporters at his secretariat office on Thursday.
Denying media reports that the government was planning to force Hasina and Khaleda into exile, the adviser said that they had not taken any such decision.
To a query he said that Hasina would not be arrested, particularly in connection with the ‘extortion’ case, before any charge sheet was framed. The anti-graft task force will investigate the ‘authenticity of the case’ first, he added.
‘I myself will look into the matter so that no confusion or misunderstanding is created in the name of filing cases. The task force will complete investigation within a month and also find out whether there is any conspiracy behind filing of the extortion case [against Hasina]’, Matin, chairman of the national coordination committee against corruption, told a questioner.
About the reported restrictions on the movement of Khaleda Zia, Matin said he knew nothing about it.
Meanwhile, Hasina, now in the United States on a private trip and facing extortion and murder charges at home, changed her decision to return home early following an assurance from the government that she would not be harassed.
Awami League general secretary Abdul Jalil on Wednesday night told reporters that the government had assured the party that Hasina’s honour and image would not be harmed. She is now expected to fly home on April 23, completing her overseas tour as per the previous schedule.
Earlier, on being informed of the extortion case, an angry Hasina had decided to curtail her tour and fly home on April 14 to face up to the legal proceedings. The Awami League chief, along with frontline leaders of her alliance, was also implicated in a murder case on Wednesday.
‘It is not an understanding. With the consent of the chief adviser, I personally initiated talks with the general secretary of the AL to remove misunderstanding about the extortion case filed against the AL chief. I told him that the AL chief need not come back hastily to face the case. Rather, the government will take care of the matter,’ Matin said.
‘The government has not filed the case. Criminal cases can be filed anytime by anybody. But we will ensure that justice is done in this regard.’ he added.
About the charge sheet of the murder case in which Hasina has been implicated, the adviser, also a member of the advisory committee on law and order, said he would talk to the home ministry about the matter. ‘We will take care so that she is not harassed. But law will take its own course.’
Earlier on Wednesday, Hasina told BBC radio in a telephone interview from the United States that she was planning to cut short her visit and fly home early.
Kazi Tajul Islam Faruque, chairman of Westmont Bangladesh Limited, on Monday filed an extortion case under non-bailable sections of the penal code accusing Hasina of taking Taka 3 crore from him. The extortion charge was brought just 48 hours after the AL chief slammed the interim administration of Fakhruddin Ahmed as ‘undemocratic’ and ‘unconstitutional’ in an interview with the BBC Bangla service broadcast on April 7.

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