Khaleda seizes cell phones

In a surprise move, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia collected the cell phones of her senior party colleagues during a party meeting on Wednesday night and returned those to them only after the meeting was over.
The move is seen as an extreme measure to "prevent the meeting discussions from being leaked" to the media.
Nine members of the standing committee, the highest policymaking body of the BNP, attended the meeting at Khaleda's Gulshan office in the capital with the party chief in the chair.
Sources told The Daily Star that a number of standing committee members opposed the BNP chief's move.
"Madam, are you suspecting us?" a BNP source quoted a standing committee member as asking Khaleda.
In reply, the source added, Khaleda said: "Every detail of the meeting is leaked. So, you all deposit your phone sets."
Another member of the national standing committee then said, "I can challenge that nothing was leaked from my phone."
Some other members supported him, the source said, adding: "But the chairperson was not convinced. She was determined to take the phones."
According to the source, Khaleda ordered two junior leaders to collect the cell phones from the standing committee members, who had the phones returned to them after the meeting.
"This is real humiliation. It is a question of our integrity. The incident proved the chairperson's lack of trust in us," an annoyed standing committee member told The Daily Star yesterday, wishing anonymity.
He added the incident made them upset and they could not participate in the discussions freely.
Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, who was present at the meeting, said he was unaware of the incident. "I did not take my cell phone with me. So, I don't know about this."
Asked about the discussion at the meeting, he said it focused on the party's future anti-government movement. "We also discussed our next course of action."
Rafiqul Islam Mia, another standing committee member, declined to talk about the incident. "Please do not ask me any question about it. It is not a politically important issue."
About the BNP's possible agitation programmes, he said the party spokesperson would disclose them once they were finalised.
The BNP had planned to make April a turning point in its one-point movement to oust the government. It had expected that Hefajat-e Islam would announce tougher agitation programmes from its April 6 rally in the capital. But the Islamist group did not fulfil the BNP's expectation, which annoyed the BNP chief, according to media reports.
At a meeting of the BNP's standing committee on April 6, Khaleda expressed her dissatisfaction with the 18-party alliance leaders who were also involved with the Hefajat movement for not coming up with tougher programmes, media reports said.
Meanwhile, the BNP has decided to hold a big rally on April 28 or 29. The date and venue will be finalised after getting permission from the police, sources said.