Health Secretary Neaz Uddin Mia, whose freedom fighter certificate is set to be scrapped soon for being proven false, has been included in the delegation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for the 69th session of the UN General Assembly.
Neaz is scheduled to take part in the International Conference on Population Development (ICPD) to be held at the United Nations General Assembly today.
When contacted, Cabinet Secretary Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said the prime minister’s delegation had been approved by the premier herself.
“She included those who she considers can contribute [in the visit],” he said.
Former cabinet secretary Akbar Ali Khan told the Dhaka Tribune that any accused person should not be in such a post until the accusation was resolved.
On September 14, the government decided to cancel the freedom fighters’ certificates of five secretaries including the health secretary as those were proven fake in an investigation by the Anti-Corruption Commission.
The government decision was taken at a meeting of the National Freedom Fighters Council, widely known as Jatiya Muktijoddha Council, under the Liberation War Affairs Ministry.
The move came after the ACC sent a letter to the Liberation War Affairs Ministry and the Public Administration Ministry on September 8, requesting them to take legal and departmental actions against the five for the offence.
The Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque recently said the service age of the accused officials would end this year and if the certificates were real, they would have got the extension of service for one more year; but, as it was proven to be fake, they would not get the advantage.
According to the ministry officials, departmental cases might be filed against the officials for violation of service rules and disciplines. Fraud cases might also be filed against them, if it is proved that they were involved with fraudulence.
