Leaders and activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), student wing of ruling Awami League, have burnt an effigy of BNP Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman for calling Bangabandhu “Razakar.”
Hundreds of BCL men set fire to the effigy of Tarique, the elder son of BNP chief Khaleda Zia, in the city's New Market area around 4pm on Saturday.
Earlier, BCL men brought out a procession parading the important points of the city.
Among others, BCL president Faizar Rahman Kanak and General Secretary Ziaur Rahman spoke at a street rally after the procession.
Leaders at the rally asked Tarique to stop making such “derogatory remarks” on Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and demanded his punishment for defaming the “father of the nation.”
While addressing a programme in London on December 15, Tarique called Bangladesh’s founding president Bangabandhu a “Razakar,” a term which has become synonymous with a collaborator or traitor of the Pakistani military since the 1971 Liberation War.
Tarique said Sheikh Mujib had accepted Yahya Khan as Pakistan's president and went for the national and provincial elections accepting his conditions.
He claimed that father of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Sheikh Mujib never wanted an independent Bangladesh but a combined Pakistan.
Following the speech, Tarique faced strong criticism at home, several defamation cases were filed against him and his effigies have been burnt in different places of the country.
Tarique has been in London since September 11, 2008 on medical grounds after securing parole in various cases.
He faces 14 charges, of which four, including the August 21 grenade attack case, are on trial and the rest are stayed.
