Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury yesterday asked the government to ensure security of Opposition Leader Khaleda Zia and remove all barriers the BNP chief had been facing at this moment as alleged by her party MPs.
Shirin talked to the state minister for home and the inspector general of police as eight BNP MPs led by Opposition Chief Whip Zainul Abdin Farroque called on her at the parliament office asking her if Khaleda was arrested or under house arrest.
The BNP delegation submitted a memorandum to the speaker.
Shamsul Hoque Tuku, the state minister, told the speaker that Khaleda was neither arrested, nor confined or under house arrest that all such actions warranted a legal procedure.
“Envoys of different countries have been meeting her [Khaleda], which proves that she is not arrested,” the speaker told the Dhaka Tribune, quoting Tuku. “Security around her residence was beefed up for guaranteeing her security.”
IGP Hassan Mahmood Khandkar echoed Tuku while speaking on setting up barricades on the entrance to Khaleda’s house. The BNP chief could not come out of her residence as the police kept sand-laden trucks parked at the entrance that obstructed the movement to and from the residence.
“Prioritising the security of the opposition leader, you should ensure that she does not face any inconvenience,” the speaker told the state minister and the IGP. “I can only bring the matter to the notice of the executive,” she told the Dhaka Tribune. Zainul Abdin Farroque called the speaker on Wednesday night, seeking an appointment.