BNP’s acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Saturday asked Sajeeb Wazed Joy to refrain from speaking like aALn immature boy. He criticised the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s son for saying that BNP’s founder Ziaur Rahman was not a freedom fighter.
“New generation leader Joy was born in 1971 under the security of Pak Army during the Liberation War in 9171. He’s spent most of his time in India and the USA. He has questioned Ziaur Rahman being a freedom fighter,” he said.Fakhrul said: “I personally don’t want to say anything about him (Joy) as he is very junior to me. I want to say, please stop speaking like an immature boy using the language of Awami League leaders.”
The BNP leader was addressing a discussion, titled ‘Shaheed Zia and Democracy’, arranged by Bangladesh Peshajibi Parishad at the Jatiya Press Club, marking the ‘National Revolution and Solidarity Day’.
Joy, also the ICT adviser to the Prime Minister, on Friday had termed BNP a party of Razakars and said Ziaur Rahman was not a freedom fighter.
Fakhrul said it’s Zia who had given Awami League its rebirth during his rule. “Please speak on any issue after acquiring adequate knowledge… otherwise, people won’t like you.”
He also asked Joy not to make derogatory comments about Ziaur Rahman as ignoring him is tantamount to denying the history and roots of Bangladesh.
Fakhrul said that it is not possible to separate the Liberation War and Ziaur Rahman no matter who says what. “It’s a fact that Ziaur Rahman gave the formal call for the Liberation War. Those who make offensive comments against him and want to erase his name won’t ever succeed. Zia’s name will be in people’s heart as long Bangladesh exits.”
“A child says BNP emerged amid autocracy! Please see your own face in the mirror you’ll see the true image of an autocrat.”
Referring to sacked Posts and Telecommunications and ICT Minister Abdul Latif Siddiqui’s remarks that Joy gets $2 lakh a month remuneration as the Prime Minister’s ICT adviser, Fakhrul said people want to know whether it is a fact or not.
He also said: “People want to know whether Latif Siddiqui was removed from the cabinet for his comments against Joy, rather than for his anti-Islamic remarks.”
Shamsuzzman Dudu, adviser to the BNP chairperson said that those AL leaders who made indecent criticism of BNP’s founder Ziaur Rahman actually could not reconcile with the fact that his popularity among the people was sky high.
He said men like Totail Ahmed who were advisers of the Rakkhi Bahina did nothing on 15th August, 1975 for their leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. They even did not protest the killings, because they were afraid of so doing. After the death of Ziaur Rahman people had come out to
the street lakhs of people had taken part in hiz Namaj e Janaza.
He strongly criticised the government for filing fabricated cases against BNP leaders and withdrawing 7,500 cases that were filed against AL leaders though many of those were backed by evidence. Be prepared to a befitting response, he said.
Prof. Yusuf Haider of Dhaka University, eminent film maker Chashi Nazrul Islam, former secretary to the government Eng Aktar Hossain, Prof. Abdul Mannan Mia and Dr. Zahid Hossain spoke at the function among others.
