Maj (Retd) Shahjahan Omar, an expelled BNP leader who later became an Awami League candidate for the Jhalakathi-1 constituency, has said that the party’s Presidium Member Amir Hossain Amu brought him back to the party.
“Amu Bhai had sent me to join the BNP, and he recently brought me back to the Awami League. I’ll never leave the Awami League,” Omar said.
Omar made the remarks at a press briefing at Amu’s residence in Barisal city on Wednesday night. Omar was addressing the media about the updates on his electioneering in the Jhalakathi-1 (Rajapur-Kathalia) seat.
Before the briefing, Omar sat with the leaders of the Rajapur and Kathalia Upazila units of the Awami League. The Rajapur Upazila unit previously boycotted him.
Omar recalled that following the Liberation War, he had received a jail sentence in a case in 1974, which led to his dismissal by the military and subsequent problems.
“At that time, I had a misunderstanding with Barisal-based student leader Nurul Islam Manju,” said Omar, adding that then-minister Abdur Rab Serniabat, his son Abul Hasnat Abdullah, and Amu helped him during his crisis.
Abul Hasnat Abdullah, Omar said, also went to visit him in jail several times.
Talking about joining the BNP, Omar said that the party’s founding chief, General Ziaur Rahman, was his trainer in the army. “So, I joined the BNP in that connection.”
But before the 1991 general election, Amu took him to Awami League President Sheikh Hasina, who told Omar that she was unable to assist him as another person met her with a letter from a friend of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Omar said.
“At that time, Amu Bhai advised me to join the BNP,” remembered the seasoned politician.
Upon being released from jail on November 29, Amu took measures to help Omar join the Awami League, the latter said.
He went on to say that BNP leaders and activists from the two upazilas also joined the ruling party with him.
When asked about switching his political stance, Omar angrily replied: “It is my constitutional right."
He vowed not to join another party again.
Amu, also the 14-party alliance’s spokesperson, said that Omar joined them to help continue the democratic process in the country.
Omar was given the party ticket on November 30, a day after his release from Kashimpur Jail-2 in Gazipur, where he was sent after being charged with arson.
Immediately after the Awami League’s endorsement, the BNP expelled him for going against the party’s decision to boycott the January 7 election.
The Election Commission on December 15 retained his candidacy after Awami League leader Muniruzzaman Munir challenged that by accusing him of concealing information in his affidavit.
