'Just a ploy for political asylum abroad'

BNP Senior Vice Chairman Tarique Rahman is making false remarks about the proclamation of independence and the father of the nation to tempt the government to file sedition cases against him, which he can use to seek political asylum abroad, speakers told a discussion yesterday.
Noting that Tarique already applied to the British government for political asylum, Law Minister Anisul Huq said, "A sedition case against him would only make his case stronger. But the government would not fall into that trap."
"We would definitely take legal steps against him for trying to create anarchy in the country," he said, urging citizens to continue to protest Tarique's falsehood.
The discussion, "Opposition of the proclamation of independence is tantamount to sedition", was organised by Ekatturer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee in the capital's WVA auditorium.
Staying in London since 2008, Tarique claimed on March 25 that his father Ziaur Rahman was the first president of Bangladesh. It was later supported by his mother BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia. Two weeks later, on April 10, Tarique made another claim that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman became prime minister "illegally" in 1972.
Shahriar Kabir, acting president of the Nirmul Committee, likened BNP's rejection of the proclamation of independence to Jamaat-e-Islami's post-Liberation War effort to convince other nations not to recognise Bangladesh.
National Human Rights Commission Chairman Mizanur Rahman said, "The nation is insulted whenever history is distorted."