SYED BASHIR |
Now for the first time in last four years, BNP has admitted that the ‘fugitive’ and convicted eldest son of Begum Khaleda Zia, Tarique Rahman has submitted his passport to the UK Home Office and is staying there on cover of a political asylum in London.
And with this admission coming into light, a long told lie from BNP gets exposed that Tarique Rahman, the acting chief, has been staying in London since 2008 for the purpose of “medical treatment”. Even in a BBC Bangla interview, on Monday, Kaisar Kamal, BNP’s Law Affairs Secretary and Tarique Rahman’s lawyer contended that their chief is staying in London on ground for medical treatment.
■ Tarique Rahman’s passport
But that smokescreen has evaporated as BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that Rahman surrendered his Bangladesh passport for obtaining political asylum to the British government in 2012 and the application was granted within a year.
Ironically, the statement came from the party stalwarts after the revelation from state minister for foreign affairs Shahriar Alam that Tarique Rahman has surrendered his green passport to Bangladesh High Commission in London.
However following this statement, BNP’s leaders unleashed a barrage of lies to counter the statement of Shahriar Alam and threw a challenge to show the copies of passports.
The party’s Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi has also threatened legal action over the claim.
It’s very interesting to know how a convicted criminal sends a legal notice even after valid documents have been presented. We will definitely face the case if they want to start any
“The state minister for foreign affairs lied completely,” Rizvi said at a news conference on Monday. “I challenge them to produce the Bangladeshi passport of BNP Acting Chairman Tarique Rahman if it has been submitted to the High Commission in London.”
■ Tarique Rahman sent his, his wife Zubaida Rahman and daughter Zaima Zarnaz Rahman’s passports to the Bangladesh High Commission in London through the UK Home Office.
Rizvi claimed that the Zia family had not married any foreigner or taken foreign citizenship.
Afterwards, the state minister called a press conference and shared copies of the UK Home Office letter and the BNP leader’s passport with the media to back up his claim.
“As a politician I would say Tarique Rahman gave up his Bangladesh citizenship,” Alam told reporters in Dhaka, responding to a legal notice served by Rahman’s lawyer Kayser Kamal.
“The BNP has never clarified the legal status of Tarique Rahman’s stay in London. Medical treatment is an excuse for him to stay there.”
“I’ve heard about the legal notice. I feel good as they have put faith in the judiciary of Bangladesh. They always speak about distrust (in the judiciary),” Alam told reporters.
“It’s very interesting to know how a convicted criminal sends a legal notice even after valid documents have been presented. We will definitely face the case if they want to start any.”
On the other hand, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s son Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed Joy has refuted the BNP’s claim that he has a foreign passport, saying he only has permanent residency in the United States. ■
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