Shahriar: Political asylum means denouncing your citizenship

The state minister for foreign affairs has said after that the case for Tarique Rahman denouncing his citizenship is stronger now after BNP's admittance that he has sought asylum. On a Facebook post on Wednesday, State Minister Shahriar Alam said: “Mr Rizvi [BNP senior joint secretary general] had challenged me to produce [Tarique Rahman's] passport if we had it. I showed evidence to the media and challenged him to show the passport if they still had them or show proof of applying for extension.” Shahriar remarked last Monday at an Awami League event in the UK that Tarique Rahman, now acting chairman of BNP and living in London, surrendered his nationality by handing over his Bangladesh passport. “Today [BNP secretary general] Mirza Fakhrul admitted that Tarique Rahman surrendered his passport! He also said he had applied for political asylum abroad!!!” he wrote on Facebook. Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said at a press conference in the morning that Shahriar's comments were preposterous and Tarique was a proud Bangladeshi citizen by birth. “The UK issued him travel permit after receiving his passport according to the country’s law,” the BNP leader said. Shahriar said on Facebook that it was common knowledge that one has to denounce their citizenship if they apply for political asylum, even if it is for a limited time. “Because the main point of political asylum is that you have no place in your own country. Now the reason for surrendering his passport is clear,” he wrote. “Our point here is, someone who does not come clean about their position to the public or feels uncomfortable about doing so has no moral right to be in politics, let alone lead a party,” he wrote.