Quiet day at Gulshan

The government house, left, allocated for Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Khaleda Zia on Minto Road in the capital is now ready for her to move in. Her 196 Gulshan Avenue house, right, on 32 kathas of land, also donated to her by the government in 1981, is now being renovated so that she can move there also if she wishes. Photo: Star

After living in a sprawling house within a restricted military zone of Dhaka Cantonment for 38 years, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday spent her first day in a civilian neighbourhood in a Gulshan apartment.
She did not come out of the apartment building all day, neither did she meet any party leader there. She moved to the second floor apartment owned by her brother, Shamim Eskander, in a five-storey building in Gulshan-2 after moving out of the cantonment residence Saturday afternoon.
Meanwhile, ruling Awami League yesterday once again rebutted Khaleda's allegation that the government evicted her from the cantonment house through state violence, and Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR) also reiterated its claim that the opposition leader willingly moved out of the house with dignity and honour, while BNP again said those claims are untrue, its chief was forcefully evicted against her will.
Khaleda's Gulshan residence on a 32-khata land at 196 Gulshan Avenue, which was also donated to her by the government in 1981, has been going through a renovation for the last three days with the expectation that she might relocate there.
The 29 Minto Road official residence for the opposition leader of parliament has been readied as well by the government for Khaleda's entrance. Staff of the residence said the renovation was already completed on Saturday.
At the apartment in Gulshan yesterday none other than close family members of the BNP chief were allowed entrance. The security personnel were informed that she would not receive any visitor, Mohammad Nur-e-Alam, caretaker of the residence told The Daily Star. No gathering of people, other than two police vehicles, was seen in front of the compound at noon.
At 196 Gulshan Avenue, the lane connecting the house with the avenue was also being repaired.
"We were told that the opposition leader might start staying here, and so the renovation started," said a worker. Heavy tiles were gathered in front of the swimming pool of the house to fix it up.
Security guards were directed not to let any person enter the house, not even journalists.
AL RESPONSE TO KHALEDA'S ALLEGATIONS
About Khaleda's allegation that the government evicted her from the cantonment house, Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif said yesterday, "The government was no way involved in the process, rather it was between the Cantonment Board and Khaleda Zia." He however did not mention how he separates the Cantonment Board from the government.
Replying to a query at a media briefing in AL president's political office in Dhanmondi, he said, "Khaleda Zia did not seek a Supreme Court stay order on the High Court decision upholding the eviction notice, so the High Court order was supposed to be executed after 30 days of the decision."
He questioned why Khaleda shifted her household items from the cantonment house, if she was not interested in moving out.
He also alleged that Khaleda called members of the army "ungrateful and national enemy" when two women police approached her room in that house, seeing her delay in coming out.
Hanif also claimed that Khaleda threatened the officials, who went to help her to move, with dismissal of their jobs when BNP will return to power.
He questioned why she blames the government, as the eviction notice was issued by the Cantonment Board not the government, and as she herself went to the court to settle the issue.
Hanif said the opposition leader shed tears before the media as she had failed to protect the "illegally occupied" cantonment house. It is not understandable as to why she is staying in her brother's residence when she has two other houses in the city allocated by the government, he added.
BNP'S CLAIM
BNP Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain said ISPR has been lying repeatedly under government pressure about Khaleda's "eviction".
"Khaleda Zia was thrown out from her house cruelly and illegally, which tarnished the nation's image. She narrated the incident thoroughly, and the people of the country believed that," he said while addressing a media briefing in BNP's Nayapaltan office in the capital.
He said ISPR invited television channels yesterday to visit the house in cantonment, but it did not allow any TV channel crew access to that house the day before, when a number of them were waiting at Jahangir Gate of Dhaka Cantonment for permission to enter.
He alleged that ISPR has an ill motive of confusing the people. "The false publicity of ISPR and Awami League are the same, and we are protesting that," he said.
The government and ISPR are not only lying, but also running similar smear campaigns, he claimed.
ISPR'S VERSION
At another press briefing in Captain's World, a cafe near Jahangir Gate, ISPR reiterated its claim that Khaleda Zia was neither evicted nor forced to leave the cantonment residence.
It also rebutted the former premier's claim that her rooms were ransacked on Saturday.
ISPR Director Shahinul Islam termed all allegations as baseless, false, fabricated, and motivated. He said the residence is now under the Cantonment Board.
Public Relation Officer of the Army Station Headquarters Lt Col (retd) Wali Ullah said the world will not believe the opposition leaders' claim that she was dragged out of the residence at a time when the country's democracy is in good shape.