Govt plans to keep Khaleda out of politics: BNP

The BNP on Thursday said that the government is plotting to keep the party Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia away from politics by taking the decision to shift court and by not allowing the rally of Narayanganj. BNP Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir at a press conference at the party’s Nayapaltan central office said the two decisions were taken as part of government’s plot to throw Khaleda Zia out of politics. The court premises to hold the trial of the ‘Zia Charitable Trust’ and ‘Zia Orphanage Trust’ graft cases filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) were shifted to a makeshift court at Dhaka Alia Madrasah ground from Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judges court building. On the other hand, Narayanganj City Corporation Mayor Selina Hayat Ivy on Wednesday refused to permit the BNP to hold a rally on May 14. Khaleda Zia is scheduled to visit Narayanganj to console the family members of seven people brutally killed after their abductions. “The ACC filed graft cases against Khaleda Zia on false, baseless and fabricated charges only to undermine her. The trial of the graft cases being held at the District and Sessions Judge court have been shifted to makeshift court breaking the rules for speedy trial,” said Mirza Fakhrul.He protested the government move and demanded that the trial of the case be held at the Dhaka District and Sessions Judge’s court.About the rally of the Narayangajn, he also said the Narayanganj BNP sought permission from the Narayanganj Mayor Selina Hayat Ivy for holding a rally during Begum Zia’s visit there. The Mayor had agreed to allow them, but she later denied the permission on security ground which is unfortunate, he said. Terming Ivy’s denial of permission an attack on democracy, he urged the Narayanganj Mayor and authorities concerned to cooperate with them in holding the rally. He hoped that the Mayor would reconsider her decision and allow his party to hold the rally.He criticised the government for not allowing the party vice chairman Sadek Hossain Khoka to leave the country for treatment abroad. The decision is undemocratic and violation of human rights, he said.