The Bangladesh Nationalist Party yesterday alleged in parliament that the rescue of Reshma Begum after 17 days from the collapsed Rana Plaza was a story cooked by the government, a story which tarnished the image of the armed forces that coordinated the rescue operation.
“The government presented the false and fabricated story just to cover up a genocide of the Hefajat and the misrule of the government,” Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie, the acting chief whip of the opposition, told the House in an unscheduled discussion referring to a story published in the British tabloid daily Mirror.
He said they did not believe the story when it was posted on facebook and twitter.
“I think this hoax has tarnished the image of the government. I demand the formation of a judicial probe committee,” said Annie, demanding punishment for those who “created this hoax.”
Agriculture Minister Begum Matia Chowdhury took floor and said the Mirror was a tabloid newspaper that could be purchased easily. She alleged that the main opposition had been using the money they had laundered for publishing such story.
She brushed aside the allegation of tarnishing the image of the army.
“The image of our army is being tarnished in the international arena so that the members of the armed forces cannot go to the UN peace mission,” said the agriculture minister.
She said, “The armed forces will give its befitting reply.”
Matia Chowdhury said the allegation was tantamount of a slap in the face of the army, the BGB, the civil defence and other people who gave dedicated efforts to rescue the people trapped in the collapsed Rana Plaza.
She said the Mirror reporter was known for writing another false story on the security lapses in the World Cup in South Africa.
“He made an arrangement to push a person into the dressing room of the English team to show the weakness of the security system. He was arrested for this,” said Chowdhury.