A complaint has been registered against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and BNP standing committee member Goyeshwar Chandra Roy on charges of defamation over statements they had made about the martyrs of the Liberation War.
AB Siddiqui, president of the Bangabandhu Jananetri Parishad, filed the complaint with the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Aminul Islam on Tuesday morning.
After hearing the complaint, the court ordered the officer-in-charge of Shahbagh police station to investigate the matter and submit a report on February 7.
Read More: Complaint against Khaleda for remarks on '71 martyrs
The plaintiff stated in the complaint that Khaleda and Goyeshwar attempted to distort the history of Bangladesh with their statements on the martyrs.
On December 21, Khaleda raised questions over the accuracy of the number of the 1971 Liberation War martyrs, claiming the official figure of 3 million was disputed.
During the nine-month war, about 3 million people were killed and 250,000 women were raped and tortured by the Pakistani forces and their local collaborators.
Also Read: Khaleda sparks controversy over number of 1971 martyrs
Moreover, although she did not mention Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by name, Khaleda claimed he [Bangabandhu] did not want independence, but wanted to be Pakistan's prime minister.
In a flurry of outrageous remarks, BNP leader Goyeshwar on December 25 described the 1971 martyred intellectuals as "anti-liberation elements" who "died like fools" and drew salaries and allowances from Pakistan until the end of the war.
Supporting Khaleda, he also called upon the government to determine the "real" number of war dead.