BNP standing committee member Barrister Moudud Ahmed in his new book said BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia was only concerned about the release of her two sons during the emergency period in 2007-08.
At that time she was very much a mother rather than a political leader, said the book, Bangladesh Emergency and the Aftermath (2007-2008).
During the emergency period Khaleda Zia was under pressure from the army-backed caretaker government to leave the country but she did not agree to sit across the table without the release of her two sons –Tarique Rahman and Arafat Rahman Koko.
She even did not go abroad for treatment because of her concern for her two sons.
Senior Lawyer Moudud’s book was inaugurated in the Supreme Court Bar Association Auditorium in the city yesterday.
In the book-launching ceremony academics, politicians and media professionals were present.
Moudud wrote the book while he was in jail during the army-backed caretaker government in 2007-2008.
Emajuddin Ahmed, former vice-chancellor of Dhaka University, said: “The caretaker government was a completely military takeover and the then chief of army staff Moin Uddin Ahmed was the key policymaker.”
“I did not write the book out of malice. I did it so that we never forget history,” Moudud said in his book-launching ceremony.
Moudud claimed that a group of army officers told him, during an interrogation, that they wanted to make Moin Uddin Ahmed the president of the country.
The book Bangladesh Emergency and the Aftermath 2007-2008 also says elections in Bangladesh are invariably tainted by different forms of rigging.
In 1991, the concept of a caretaker government was adopted by the parliament with the consent of all major political parties and they were mandated to help the Election Commission to conduct general elections within three months, reads the book.
He said the caretaker government in 2007-2008 was a break in the democratic system resulting in an uncommon regime – a combination of few individuals, civil and military, taking over the institutions in the country for the months before the general elections of 2008.
This volume captures images of the important political incidents in Bangladesh during this period. The effect of the regime on the economy, judiciary, human rights situation has been discussed by the author, who was imprisoned during this period.
The book deals with the event at the University of Dhaka that stalled the election process. It analyses the conspiracy theories and negotiations that were taking place in the changed political climate during the days leading to the elections in December 2008.
At the launching ceremony Jurist Rafique-ul Huq, the daily News Today Editor Reazuddin Ahmed, the daily New Age Editor Nurul Kabir, BNP Chairperson’s Adviser Abdul Awal Mintoo and the proprietor of University Press Limited, which published the book, were also present.