Sedition case against Khaleda ‘political vengeance’: Fakhrul

BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir has alleged that the sedition case was filed against the party Chairperson Khaleda Zia just out of ‘political vengeance’.

The BNP spokesperson came up with the allegation while addressing a meeting organised by Krishak Dal at Engineers Institute in Dhaka on Monday, hours after a Dhaka court summoned Khaleda in the sedition for her remarks on the count of 1971 freedom fighters.

"False cases are being filed one after another against our leader (Khaleda). A sedition case was also filed against her today (Monday). This case is nothing but a farce and it was filed out of political vengeance," he said.

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Fakhrul claimed that there was no indication of sedition in Khaleda’s speech regarding the count of the martyrs of Liberation War in 1971.

Meanwhile, demanding withdrawal of the case, pro-BNP lawyers today staged demonstration in the court premises during the case hearing.

Earlier in the day, after a hearing, Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Rashed Talukdar asked Khaleda to appear before the court on March 3 and directed to explain her stance over the remarks.

Momtaz Uddin Ahmed Mehedi, a pro-Awami League Supreme Court lawyer, filed the case with the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) court this morning.

Read More: Sedition case filed against Khaleda

The case was filed after getting approval from the Home Ministry. On Sunday, the Home Ministry gave approval to file the case.

According to the case statement, Khaleda tried to distort the history of Bangladesh's origin with her statement on the count of 1971 freedom fighters.

On December 21 last year, Khaleda expressed doubt about the number of people who sacrificed their lives during the Liberation War in 1971, claiming the figure is disputed.