Staff Reporter :
Terming the denial made by BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir about a recent phone conversation over Khaleda Zia’s release on parole as ‘false’, Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader said he has evidence of phone call record.
“He (Mirza Fakhrul) has lied about the phone conversation. If anyone wants, I can show the evidence of the talk over phone. But, I don’t like to go far about the issue and prove him wrong,” the AL leader said.
Quader, also the Road Transport and Bridges Minister, came up with the claim while talking to reporters after attending an AL meeting at party President Sheikh Hasina’s political office in the capital’s Dhanmondi area on Tuesday.
His (Quader) comment came a few hours after BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that he had no phone conversation with him over the release of party’s chairperson Khaleda Zia on parole.
The BNP leader made the remark while talking to reporters after paying homage to BNP founder Ziaur Rahman at Sher-e-Banglanagar in the capital at around 10:30am.
“Family members of BNP chairperson are dealing with the issue of filing application for her release from jail. I had no conversation with Obaidul Quader in this regard,” the BNP leader said.
Recently, Quader claimed that Mirza Fakhrul phoned him and sought Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s intervention for the release of Khaleda Zia on parole.
The minister said, “I had a discussion with Mirza Fakhrul on the release of Begum Khaleda Zia on parole over telephone. He (Fakhrul) requested me over phone to discuss the issue (Khaleda Zia’s release on parole) with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.”
On the other hand, BNP leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said he did not discuss Khaleda Zia’s parole with Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader.
“I clearly told you the other day to ask him [Quader] about this. Why don’t you ask him?” Fakhrul said when reporters asked if he had spoken to Quader on the issue.
“We didn’t speak about any parole as of now, did we? We never did. We will decide if it will be appropriate to talk about this issue.”
“Our party chief Khaleda Zia is very sick. Anything unfortunate can happen to her, given her current physical condition. That’s why we said the government is pushing her toward death in a planned manner. They should free her,” Fakhrul said.
Reporters asked if the BNP would appeal for Khaleda’s parole if the legal process failed. “That depends completely on her [Khaleda] family,” he said.
Khaleda has been jailed in “false cases” and is eligible for bail according to the constitution, Fakhrul said, sharing his party’s stance on the issue. “But the government has imprisoned her out of political vengeance.”
“We have been continuing a movement for her freedom for the past two years and we believe that the government will be compelled to free her as the people want to see her free.”
