HC order on Amini's case today

Eminent writer and journalist Shahriar Kabir and Islami Oikya Jote Chairman Mufti Fazlul Haque Amini had a war of words in a courtroom yesterday during a hearing of a petition against Amini's derogatory comment on the constitution.
Shahriar filed the petition with the High Court on July 20 seeking necessary directives on the government to take action against Amini. The court is to deliver its verdict on the matter today.
During the hearing at the High Court yesterday, Shahriar accused Amini of being involved in Islamist militancy and the serial bomb blasts across the country on August 17, 2005. He said Amini wants to turn Bangladesh into a Taliban state like Afghanistan used to be.
Amini accused Shahriar of being a self-declared atheist.
Amini on July 14 in a meeting at the city's Lalbagh said the recently-amended constitution will be thrown into the dustbin.
Citing a commentary report published by The Daily Times of Pakistan on August 22, 2005, Shahriar told the court that the banned Islamist outfit Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) along with Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Oikya Jote were responsible for the countrywide bomb blasts.
The investigation committees formed by then BNP-Jamaat alliance government had, however, blamed the now-ruling Awami League and India for the blasts, he said.
Amini wants to establish the rule of Islami Sharia in Bangladesh by militant activities, he said. Shahriar said Amini in 2001 also made a derogatory comment about judges who declared fatwa illegal.
He said Amini's comment about the constitution is tantamount to sedition.
He urged the court to direct the government to investigate the reported militant activities of Amini and his role during the Liberation War.
Amini told the court that Shahriar Kabir is a self-declared atheist and Shahriar's statement about him is absolutely false. He said he has a lot of respect for the country's constitution but he does not accept the 15th amendment as it affects Islam.
“I said this constitution will be thrown into the dustbin. By saying this I wanted to mean that I don't accept the 15th amendment to the constitution,” he said.
Shahriar said Amini has resorted to falsehood by calling him an atheist. “Fazlul Haque Amini cannot show any document that I am an atheist,” he said.
The court asked them to give their statements without making any personal attacks against each other.
After hearing their statements and arguments from their lawyers, the court fixed today for delivering the verdict and asked Amini to be there.
The bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and Justice Gobinda Chnadra Tagore on the same day issued a rule upon the government to explain why its inaction to take legal step against Amini should not be declared illegal.