A Dhaka court has summoned BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia to appear before it on April 10 in a sedition case to explain her recent remarks doubting the actual number of Liberation War martyrs.
Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Rashed Talukder passed the order on Thursday morning as the former premier did not appear before it on the day.
Earlier in the day, Khaleda's lawyer Md Sanaullah Miah filed a time petition with the court while Mehedi's lawyer Momtaz Uddin Ahmed filed a petition asking the court to issue an arrest warrant against the BNP cheif.
The same court had earlier asked Khaleda Zia to appear before it on Thursday.
On December 21, 2015, Khaleda Zia raised questions about the actual number of Liberation War martyrs. Her comments drew widespread flak and sparked protest among pro-liberation quarters.
Two days after her comments, Momtaz, also a former secretary of Supreme Court Bar Association, sent a legal notice to Khaleda, asking her to apologise to the nation within seven days for her remarks.
As the BNP chief did not respond to the notice, Mehedi sought the Home Ministry’s approval last week to lodge the case, as government permission is a prerequisite for lodging a sedition case in accordance with the act. On January 21, Momtaz got his permission.
In the case, the complainant mentioned: “Khaleda Zia at a programme said there are controversies over how many were martyred in the Liberation War. There are also many books and documents on the controversies.
“Without naming Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, Khaleda also said he did not want independence. Rather, he wanted to become the prime minister of Pakistan”, the complainant alleged in the case.
The complainant also said Khaleda’s remarks on Bangabandhu and the number of martyrs have violated the constitution and demeaned the ideology and spirit of the Liberation War, in which three million people sacrificed their lives; so this was tantamount to sedition.
