The cabinet has approved in principle the draft of the “Special Security Force Bill, 2021”, keeping the provision of providing security to the family members of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and the very important persons.
The proposed law was brought up as the existing law “the Special Security Force Ordinance, 1986” became void following a verdict of the higher court, reports UNB.
The bill, when effective, will ensure security to the family members of the country’s first president including his daughter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina even if she does not hold office.
Bangabandhu’s family members means his two daughters, grandchildren, and in some cases, spouses or issues of the grandchildren.
The very important persons defined by the government through gazettes, and the heads of foreign states or governments will be given security under the proposed law.
Then president Bangabandhu was assassinated along with most of his family members at his Dhanmondi residence on August 15, 1975. His daughters Sheikh Hasina and Sheikh Rehana were abroad at that time. Hasina narrowly escaped a gruesome grenade attack in 2004 when she was addressing a party rally in Dhaka.
After a meeting of the Cabinet Division on Monday, its secretary, Khandker Anwarul Islam, said: “The new law was drafted revising the existing one. Only one thing has been included here – providing security to the family members of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and the very important persons.”
In case of providing security to the Bangabandhu’s family members, the Special Security Force Bill, 2021 will be given priority no matter whatever is there in the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's Family Members Security Act, 2009.
When asked about the necessity of the bill despite there being a separate law just to ensure security for the family members of Bangabandhu, the cabinet secretary said that this law was different.
“The law and the bill are not correlated,” he said.
On May 25, 2015, the government issued a gazette ensuring lifelong foolproof state security everywhere in the country to the family members of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The move was taken in line with the Father of the Nation's Family Members Security Act, 2009.