Narayanganj City Corporation Mayor Selina Hayat Ivy Monday said Awami League leader Shamim Osman was always out to make the party “controversial” for his own interest.
She accused Shamim of bringing the party into disrepute.
“Why would the party have to bear the brunt of Shamim’s misdeeds? Why would the party patronise Shamim Osman and side with him when we all know that he is a terrorist and extortionist?,” Ivy questioned while addressing a roundtable.
Santrash Nirmul Twaki Mancha – a platform formed to protest against the Twaki murder – organised the programme titled “Apathy of the state to ensure justice over Twaki murder and crisis of democracy” at the National Press Club.
The city mayor said 90% people of Narayanganj and each of its dust particles know who the murderer of Twaki is, but the government-appointed administration doesn’t know that.
“I will urge the prime minister and the home minister to instruct the administration to arrest Shamim’s son Ayan Osman, and his brother Nasim’s son Azmeri Osman, both of whom are accused in Twaki murder case,” Ivy said, adding that people will not sit idle if they are not arrested.
A few Awami League leaders who reside in Dhaka and speak in favour of Shamim Osman after receiving hefty sums of money are the ones for whom Awami League’s image is being tarnished today, she said.
“We do Awami League politics because we love the party and we believe in its ideology. Yet, we are not being valued here. It’s now time for the party chief to decide whether she would pander to those tarnishing the image of the party or stand by the fully-committed ones,” she added.
Prof Anisuzzaman spoke at the discussion. He said democracy ceases to exist when there is no rule of law in the country.
He called upon the government to take appropriate legal measures following investigation into the killing as soon as possible.
Prof Sirajul Islam Chowdhury said: “We see that the government does not eliminate terrorists, rather patronises them. We need to continue movement against terrorists.”
Twaki’s father Rafiur Rabbi, presiding over the discussion, said unless the government arrests the godfathers and if it continues to patronise them, it would have to suffer a similar fate in the upcoming national elections as it did in the city corporation elections.
“Elections to some city corporations have reflected today’s reality,” he noted.
Prof Anu Muhammad, Prof MM Akash, politician Pankaj Bhattachariya, and women rights leader Maleka Begum, among others, spoke at the function.