Tarique sued for calling Bangabandhu 'Pakbandhu'

A sedition case has been filed against BNP Senior Vice- Chairman Tarique Rahman for calling Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman  “Pakbandhu” (Friend of Pakistan).

Advocate Moshiur Rahman Malek, president of Bangabandhu Foundation, yesterday lodged the lawsuit with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate's Court of Dhaka.

After hearing, Metropolitan Magistrate Asaduzzaman Nur recorded statements of the complainant and ordered the Detective Branch of police to submit a probe report on the issue on October 30.

The court also asked Moshiur to seek necessary permission from the home ministry as it is a mandatory for bringing any sedition charge.

In his case statement, Moshiur alleged that Tarique recently called Sheikh Mujibur a “Pakbandhu” at a discussion in London.

“Sheikh Mujibur Rahman cannot be the Father of the Nation. He returned to the country with a Pakistani passport. Someone who accepts Pakistani passport even after Bangladesh's independence is a citizen of that country according to law,” Tarique said while addressing the discussion at York Hall in East London on September 29.

“One day it will have to be explained how a Pakistani citizen became a president or prime minister of Bangladesh,” the BNP leader warned.

Condemning the case filing, BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said the lawsuit was “false and baseless” and demanded its immediate withdrawal.

He was expressing his reaction in front of the media at the party's Nayapaltan headquarters.