Nasiruddin summoned to court

A Dhaka court has summoned Nasiruddin Patwary, chief coordinator of the National Citizen Party (NCP), in a case filed over alleged defamatory remarks and “criminal intimidation” directed at Mirza Abbas, the prime minister’s political adviser and a member of the BNP’s Standing Committee.

Md Ashraful Islam, president of the Ramna Police Station unit of the BNP, filed the application for the case at the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Hasan Shahadat on Sunday.

Following the hearing, the court recorded the plaintiff’s statement, took cognisance of the case, and issued a summons instructing the accused to appear in court.

“After the case application was submitted in the morning, a hearing took place at around 11am, and the court ordered the issuance of a summons against the accused,” said Md Amirul Islam, the plaintiff’s lawyer.

The case statement states that on 5 March, the plaintiff, Ashraful Islam, saw on Facebook that Nasiruddin Patwary had made various defamatory remarks about Mirza Abbas.

Patwary’s statements were also published verbatim on several online news portals.

The complaint alleges that the accused’s remarks are highly defamatory and reprehensible.

Making these statements viral on Facebook and YouTube is tarnishing Mirza Abbas’s reputation. Such actions by the accused are beyond all forms of political etiquette and the norms of civilisation.

“Nasiruddin Patwary is purposefully and intentionally publishing these false and fabricated statements to smear Mirza Abbas’s long-standing political career,” reads the case statement.

The petition noted that both the plaintiff and Mirza Abbas were shocked upon seeing these remarks by the accused.
The case complaint cited last month’s 13th national election as the start of this dispute.

In that election, the NCP’s Nasiruddin Patwary mounted a fierce challenge to BNP candidate Mirza Abbas in the Dhaka-8 constituency, running under the “Shapla Koli” (Water Lily Bud) symbol.

In that widely discussed election, Mirza Abbas won by securing 56,552 votes. Nasiruddin Patwary received 51,572 votes.

The plaintiff alleged that Nasiruddin Patwary had been making various false and defamatory statements since the election.

However, after losing the vote, the frequency of his threatening and defamatory remarks on social media and various online newspapers increased further.

In continuation of this, legal action has now been taken in response to these latest defamatory remarks.