Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), student wing of the ruling Awami League, has demanded BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and her elder son Tarique Rahman be arrested as the two are continuously distorting the country’s history to mislead the people.
“Khaleda should take a lesson from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina concerning the definition of movement and democracy,” Siddiqui Nazmul Alam, BCL general secretary, said.
The BCL leader was addressing a rally in protest at the statements of Khaleda and Tarique as both claimed BNP founder Ziaur Rahman was the first president of Bangladesh. The rally was held outside the Arts Building at the University of Dhaka yesterday.
Ziaur Rahman was the first person to declare the country’s independence, Khaleda and Tarique had claimed.
The BCL general secretary said BNP standing committee member Barrister Rafiqul Islam Miah had been boycotted on the campus as he had distorted the history of Bangladesh.
“Those who will twist the history cannot be allowed on the campus. They will be boycotted,” Nazmul Alam added.
Earlier on March 28, BCL organised a rally outside the Jatiya Press Club and its activists issued a 24-hour ultimatum to Khaleda and Tarique, asking them to withdraw their statement and apologise to the nation.
Slamming Khaleda Zia for her remark that a new Guinness record would be set by launching movement against the government, Nazmul said: “Your (Khaleda) name has already been written in the Guinness Book of World Records as the country became champion in corruption several times when your government was in office.”
“People now laugh when BNP men talks about tougher movement as they have never been able to stage a movement successfully,” he added.
Chaired by BCL’s DU unit president Mehedi Hasan, the rally was attended by several leaders, including Shamsul Kabir Rahat, Mostafizur Rahman Mostak, Hasanuzzaman Tareq, Sharmin Sultana Lily, and DU unit general secretary Omar Sharif, among others.
Earlier, BCL men brought out a procession from Madhur Canteen that marched through different thoroughfares on the campus and ended outside the Arts Building.