PM’s remarks about Khaleda seditious offence: Fakhrul

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir today came down heavily on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her remarks that BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia is insane and possesses illegal assets abroad.

"Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's such baseless remarks in the parliament is one kind of seditious crime," Fakhrul said this while addressing a press conference at the party's Nayapaltan central office in Dhaka this noon.

Responding to Khaleda’s January 2 remarks on the construction of Padma bridge, the premier yesterday told the parliament that the BNP chief has asked her party leaders and activists not to use the Padma bridge.

“A proverb says pagole ki na boley, chhagole ki na khai [A mad man says anything while a goat eats anything]. One should better not pay heed to someone mad,” Hasina said in response to a supplementary question of reserved seat lawmaker Fazilatun Nasa Bappy.

In scripted answer, she also told the parliament that Khaleda Zia’s two sons -- Tarique Rahman and Arafat Rahman Koko -- laundered USD 750mn in Belgium and USD 250mn in Malaysia and they have houses worth several million USD in Dubai and markets and other assets in Saudi Arabia.

Terming the facts and documents projected by the prime minister over Khaleda's assets as unrealistic, Fakhrul said Sheikh Hasina has misled the entire nation by spreading such falsehood.

"The prime minister's speech is indecent, nonsensical, thoughtless and also a heinous aggression on the civilisation," Fakhrul said expressing his party's strong condemnation to the prime minister for such speech.

Sheikh Hasina took oath that she would speak the truth while performing the duties as the prime minister but she made false comments in the parliament, Fakhrul said.

"Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has broken the oath indeed by making such misleading comments," the BNP leader said.

Calling upon the prime minister to stop making such “falsehood”, Fakhrul said "Please stop spreading the lies and the dishonest attempt to mislead the nation."

The BNP leader also warned that a defamation case might be filed for such comments.