BNP seeks govt’s initiative to bring back Salahuddin

Staff Reporter :
BNP on Thursday said that the government’s initiative is needed to bring back the party’s Standing Committee Member Salahuddin Ahmed from India.
Salahuddin Ahmed was recently acquitted by the judge court in India’s Shillong in a case filed against him over trespassing into the neighbouring country in 2015.
“Salahuddin Ahmed is a prominent politician of Bangladesh. He has been forced to spent eight years in jail and under house arrest in India for no valid reasons,” BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said it while adressing at a press conference at the
 party Chairperson’s Gulshan office.
The party’s Standing Committee Member Gayeshwar Chandra Roy was also present at the press conference.
Mirza Fakhrul said, it is the government’s responsibility to bring him back as he was acquitted by the Indian court.
“We call upon the government of Bangladesh to take steps for bringing back Salahuddin Ahmed to the country as a free citizen,” BNP Secretary General said.
Mirza Fakhrul urged the Indian government to send Salahuddin Ahmed back to Bangladesh with dignity by ensuring his human rights.
“We want our beloved leader Salahuddin Ahmed back to us immediately,” he said.
The BNP leader also said Salahuddin is one of the victims of the repressive activities of the ‘fascist’ Awami League government.
Mirza Fakhrul said, Salahuddin has been forced to live in exile in India for 8 years facing a ‘false case’.
“He was put on trial in an Indian court for illegally entering that country. Salahuddin Ahmed was acquitted by the judgment of the trial court and the appellate court,” he said.
BNP Secretary General said, “With his acquittal, it has been proven that Salahuddin Ahmed has been subjected to endless torture and harassment by the ‘illegitimate’ government of Bangladesh. We want him back now unconditionally.”
He also called upon the government to ensure BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia’s unconditional release so that she can be taken to any Hospital for advanced medical treatment abroad.
On February 28 last, the judge court in India’s Shillong upheld a magistrate court’s verdict that acquitted BNP leader Salahuddin Ahmed in a case filed against him over trespassing into India.
After remaining missing for around two months, Salahuddin, a former state minister, was found in Shillong, the capital of the northeastern Indian state of Meghalaya on May 11, 2015.
He was arrested for entering India without any valid documents. A case was filed against him under the Foreigners Act.
Later, Shillong police pressed charges against him in the case.
However, BNP claimed that Salahuddin was picked up from a house in the capital city’s Uttara area on March 10, 2015 allegedly by unidentified men who introduced themselves as detectives