‘Khaleda is trying to divert the people’s attention away from corruption charges’

by Fazlur Rahman Raju in Dhaka Tribune, Dec 21, 2017
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia will face legal action if she does not withdraw a legal notice sent to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Awami League stalwarts said on Wednesday.
The ruling party’s presidium member Matia Chowdhury and its publicity and publication secretary Hasan Mahmud issued the warning during a press conference at the party president’s office in Dhanmondi on Wednesday afternoon.
It came a day after Khaleda sent a notice by post to Hasina, warning of legal ramifications involving compensation if the prime minister does not make an apology within 30 days over claims the BNP chief was involved in international money laundering.
Quoting different foreign media reports, Hasina on December 7 accused the BNP chief and her family of siphoning off huge amounts of money to Saudi Arabia.
She also expressed her displeasure over the local media’s apparent reluctance to report the allegations against Khaleda.
Hasan Mahmud said: “Through this legal notice, the BNP chief is trying to divert the people’s attention away from the corruption charges she and her family members are facing right now.”
The much-talked-about legal notice Khaleda Zia sent to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Dhaka Tribune
Matia Chowdhury was steadfast when asked by a reporter if the ruling party possesses any evidence of the alleged wrongdoing by Khaleda and her family.
“Awami League neither comes up with fabricated information out of thin air, nor spreads information without concrete evidence,” she said.
All of the Awami League leaders contacted by the Dhaka tribune expressed their frustration and anger over the issue, saying the BNP chairperson made a “huge mistake” by sending the sending the notice to the prime minister.
“Khaleda Zia and BNP should have issued the notice to the Guardian and other newspapers and not to the Awami League chief, as the allegations were revealed in their reports,” Pijush Kanti Bhattacharya, a presidium member of the party, said.
AL Joint General Secretary Abdur Rahman described the notice as an “idiotic move”.
“She [Khaleda Zia] will not be able to benefit from this, as the prime minister did not directly say anything about money laundering by the BNP chairperson and her family; rather, she just quoted from newspapers,” he claimed.
“The involvement of Khaleda Zia and her family in corruption came to the fore during anti-corruption drives by the Saudi crown prince. She should sue the Saudi royal family, not Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.”
Several other leaders of the party claimed that the notice proved that Khaleda and her family were involved in siphoning off money abroad.
They said corruption allegations against Khaleda’s family are a “proven matter”, adding that her two sons have already been convicted of corruption.
However, one member of the Awami League’s central executive committee, Iqbal Hossain Opu, told the Dhaka Tribune that the move by Khaleda Zia has proved that democracy is still prevalent in the country. “She [Khaleda] is enjoying her democratic rights to the fullest,” he said.http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/politics/2017/12/20/khaleda-trying-divert-peoples-attention-away-corruption-charges/