Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury on Tuesday alleged that some ‘foreign powers’ are fostering militants in Bangladesh.
“Some diplomats were holding meetings with the militants in madrasahs. This proves foreign powers are fostering militants. These diplomats don’t have any shame,” she said in a statement in Parliament under section 300 of the Rules of Procedure.
On February 20, two officials, including one female from the US Embassy in Dhaka visited the headquarters of Chittagong-based Hefazat-e-Islam and had over a two-hour meeting with seven of its top leaders.Matia also alleged that the BNP is nourishing militant groups in the country to strengthen their power.
She slammed BNP acting general secretary Fakhrul islam Alamgir for not saying anything about the killing of a policeman during the snatching of three convicted JMB men.
On February 23, a large group of miscreants snatched the three including two death row activists of Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) in Trishal upazila of Mymensingh.
They intercepted a prison van, opened fire on police and killed a constable.
“I know you (Fakhrul Islam Alamgir) to be a learned person; you were in the teaching profession and you study regularly,” she said. “But, recently, it seems you are not studying well.”
“You did not read the Time Magazine where it was said that the militant force emerged from 2001 when BNP-Jamaat alliance government was in power,” Matia said.
She then read out a report of the Time Magazine in the House. In that report it was stated that the al-Qaeda leader Zawahiri entered Bangladesh on December 21, 2001 and stayed here for a couple of months.
Matia also said that recently the Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami, has been pointed as the third top militant group of the world.
“In 2004, at a Shibir conference, Khaleda Zia’s son (Tarique) had said that Chhatra Dal and Chhatra Shibir are sons of the same mother,” she added. – UNB
