A Dhaka court on Wednesday deferred till May 13 the hearing on framing of charges against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in connection with the cases filed over undermining the national flag and observing fake birthday on August 15.
Dhaka’s Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Muhammad Asaduzzaman Nur passed the order after Khaleda's counsel Masud Ahmed Talukder submitted two separate petitions, seeking adjournment of the charge framing hearing in the cases.
In the petitions, lawyer Masud Ahmed said that Khaleda Zia could not appear before the court due to her illness. Moreover, she was not in a position to move. So, the hearing should be adjourned in the cases.
One of the cases was filed by journalist Gazi Zahirul Islam, former joint secretary of Dhaka Union of Journalists (DUJ), with the Dhaka’s Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court on August 30, 2016.
He accused Khaleda of celebrating her “fake birthday” on August 15, the National Mourning Day, every year.
According to the case documents and SSC mark sheet, the birthday of the BNP chief is on September 5, 1946. During her tenure as prime minister, a national daily published an article on her life writing August 19, 1945, as Khaleda's birthday.
In her marriage certificate, Khaleda Zia's birthday was given as August 4, 1944, while it is on August 5, 1946, as per her passport information. However, August 15 has not been mentioned anywhere as her birthday.
The other case was filed by AB Siddique, president of Bangladesh Jananetri Parishad, a pro-Awami League organisation, with a Dhaka court on November 3, 2016.
Former premier Khaleda Zia, her late husband and former military ruler Ziaur Rahman, was accused in the case filed on charges of “undermining” the country’s map and national flag by appointing anti-liberation people as cabinet members.
The court, however, dropped Ziaur Rahman’s name from the charges as he died earlier.
