BNP to part ways with Hawa Bhaban soon

Hawa Bhaban, also known as "alternative power centre of BNP", is set to be closed soon.Photo: STAR

The BNP is soon going to close its chairperson's Hawa Bhaban office, which became the alternative powerhouse within the BNP-led four-party coalition government and earned the reputation as "epicentre of corruption" during 2001-2006.
Party sources confirmed the decision but failed to give any specific date for handover of the Banani house to the owner, who has long been trying to get it back.
The decision would definitely come as a relief to many BNP leaders and activists who wanted during the four-party rule to see its closure as a means to stop the influence on the party and the then government.
Tarique Rahman's release on September 3 and quitting politics before leaving the country eight days later helped the leadership to decide about it.
Sources say Hawa Bhaban owner, Asheq Ahmed, is ready to forget about the due rents, which amount to be about Tk 15 lakh, if the BNP leaves it now.
Apparently having no activities since Tarique's arrest on March 7 last year during the anti-graft clampdown, the three-storey house on Road 13 in Banani's D Block still remains a mystery to many.
During a visit, no-one responded despite repeated knocks at the main gate, which still has two-paddy-sheaf symbol, or the side entrance.
"This is the Hawa Bhaban," a CNG-run three-wheeler driver commented, slowing down his vehicle in front of the house on Sunday. A woman popped out her head through the vehicle and kept staring at the house as long as she could, as if in an attempt to understand the mystery.
Though the three-storey house was rented in 2000 as the political office of the BNP chairperson with an aim to turn it into a centre for political research and training for the party, it ultimately turned into the "centre of corruption" and "control room of extortion", political analysts say.
Immediately after renting of the house, Tarique Rahman started political activities from there.
The mechanism that earned the BNP-Jamaat alliance a landslide victory in the 2001 elections consolidated the Hawa Bhaban's power as an alternative powerhouse of the BNP-Jamaat government.
Hawa Bhaban became the most frequented building during 2001-2006 with widespread allegations of corruption and abuse of the government power levelled against it. Using the Bhaban's influence, Tarique's business friend Giasuddin Al Mamun allegedly earned illegal favours worth crores of taka, according to investigators.
From Hawa Bhaban, Tarique allegedly controlled everything -- from civil administration to political arena -- as the house had lately been used by many vested quarters including some of his friends to influence various activities, especially big trade contracts and tenders.
Ashiq, Bakul and Apu are among those identified as the ones who used to play a vital part in running of the Hawa Bhaban.
In the wake of widespread criticism of the activities, several senior minister and policymakers of BNP desired for closing Hawa Bhaban in 2004 saying "half of the blames" the government was facing would go then.
In the Tk 1 crore extortion case filed against Tarique on the day of his arrest, Amin Ahmed, a businessman who got ticket as a BNP candidate from a Noakhali constituency for the cancelled January 22 election, mentioned that Tarique called him to Hawa Bhaban and demanded the money, which he complied later.
Two days after Tarique's arrest, the joint forces raided BNP the Bhaban and picked up the office's computer operator SM Parvez along with some documents. They also sealed two rooms Tarique used to use.
During interrogation, he reportedly disclosed names of some top 'Hawa Bhaban men' who used to control major businesses and look after his bank accounts, according to sources.
However, the house apparently remains abandoned since Tarique's arrest and owner Asheq Ahmed, who is living in the UK, stopped getting the rent regularly.
According to sources, a caretaker now looks after the house and all the pieces of furniture have been piled up in a room for shifting.
With the handover of the house, the curtain of an era of "corruption" will officially fall, some BNP leaders observe.