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Download PDF Acting president of Awami League (AL) Zillur Rahman yesterday said no reforms and council would take place unless Sheikh Hasina is released.
“Everyone in the party thinks there must not be any reforms or council till our leader is freed,” he said at a press briefing at his Gulshan residence.
Zillur Rahman, one of the doyens of the country’s politics, said, “The work on reforms will begin only after release of Sheikh Hasina and lifting of the ban on indoor politics.”
Queried about the reported bickering among the senior leaders over intra-party reforms, he said, “All misunderstandings have been cleared after Tofail and Razzaq met me Wednesday.”
He said that an eight-member committee headed by Barrister Rafiqul Haque has been formed to fight the charges brought against Hasina.
In a swipe at the military-backed interim administration, he said the way a leader of her stature was taken to jail was very inhuman. He demanded punishment to those responsible for what he said was a degrading treatment to a former prime minister.
Zillur, also ex-general secretary of the AL, said, “Misunderstandings and confusion that have been troubling the party are over now.”
“Razzaq and Tofail yesterday told me that they have no resentment,” Zillur said.
“Reforms mean nothing to us when our leader is in jail and at the moment, there is no room for division,” he said quoting AL presidium members Tofail Ahmed and Abdur Razzaq.
He observed, “We are united in our resolve to free the leader.”
About the extortion case against Hasina, Zillur said, “We will go to the High Court for the charges to be quashed.”
“It’s about eight years ago when there was no emergency in the country, so how come they file the case now under the emergency power rules,” he said.
“Hasina’s name was not in the first information report (FIR). Besides, it was never stated that she demanded money or was given money,” he went on.
About BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s statement calling for release of her arch rival, he said, “She has acted like a true politician.”
HASINA RECEIVES ACC NOTICE
The jail authorities yesterday did not allow the close relatives of Awami League chief Sheikh Hasina to meet her at the special jail “on security grounds”.
Meanwhile, the AL chief yesterday received the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) notice, asking her to submit wealth statement.
Some relatives of the former prime minister stayed on the parliament premises for over two hours and then went back since the authorities did not allow them to meet her.
Earlier, the AL submitted a list of names of 27 close relatives of Sheikh Hasina and her four personal staff to the jail authorities seeking permission to meet her.
“We could not allow relatives to meet her due to security reasons,” DIG Prisons Major Shamsul Haider Siddiqui told The Daily Star last night.
He however said Hasina’s lawyers could meet her, as she needs discussion with them to submit her wealth statement. “But legal procedures would be followed in this regard,” added the DIG prison.
About the letter submitted to the jail authorities seeking permission for the relatives and personal staff to meet her, Haider said they have received the letter but they could not arrange it right now.
He said the AL chief is well and messages from relatives have been conveyed to her as per the normal procedures.
A doctor, a nurse and an ambulance have been kept all time for Hasina’s treatment, he said.
July 20th, 2007 at 1:12 pm
We must not be drived by any apathy against any leader.
Lady Hasina herself wanted New blood in political arena, as she herself declared that all over 60 are out of AL leadership. She herself will become 60 very soon, so why there is a bar of choosing a new AL leader?