Badiul bins 'propaganda over dinner at his house'
Shujan Secretary Badiul Alam Majumdar has alleged that a vested quarter was cooking up a conspiracy theory about the dinner, attended by US Ambassador to Bangladesh Marcia Bernicat, at his Mohammadpur residence on August 4.
In a statement yesterday, he said the dinner was a family event and its date had been fixed 20 days prior to the student movement for safe road began, adding, “A quarter is involved in an ill-effort to present a conspiracy theory over it.”
Badiul said the vested quarter is using the mass media for establishing the theory and making the dinner seem like a “secret meeting”.
At the same time, he said, the quarter also mentioned the names of some people, saying they were also present at the event, even though they weren't.
For example, an online news portal on August 6 quoting police reported that Dr Kamal Hossain, Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, M Hafizuddin Khan and Justice Abdur Rouf were present at the dinner, read the statement.
But, it said, only Marcia Bernicat, Dr Kamal Hossain, his wife Dr Hameeda Hossain and M Hafizuddin Khan were there. “Apart from these four persons, my wife, son, daughter-in-law, two daughters and I -- a total of ten -- were present at the dinner.”
The statement said that after the dinner, when the ambassador was about to get into her vehicle, a group of miscreants -- estimated to number 30 to 40 -- attacked her motorcade.
They also attacked Badiul's son Mahbub Majumder, coach of the Bangladesh Math Olympiad.
The miscreants, who were carrying pistols and sticks, chased Bernicat's vehicle and threw brickbats. Some of them were also heard talking of setting fire to the ambassador's vehicle, Badiul said.
As the motorcade drove off, the miscreants hurled brickbats at the second floor of his residence and broke the windowpanes. They even tried to break open the gate of the residence, he added.
They stayed in front of the house for nearly half an hour and hurled abuses at Badiul and even threatened to “see” them during the daytime.
“Instantly, we called the national emergency service at 999. Based on the call, police came but did not talk to us and just left without arranging any security for us,” he said.
The next day, Badiul and his three colleagues submitted a complaint to Mohammadpur Police Station's officer-in-charge detailing the attack. He requested the police to accept the complaint as a case and provide necessary security to his family.
The statement mentioned that police said they would discuss the matter with the higher authorities and then make a decision. Later, he came to learn it was accepted as a general diary.
“I strongly protest the attack and propaganda, and call upon all to behave responsibly. At the same time, I demand quick trial of the matter and ensuring security of me and my family,” it added.