Staff Reporter :BNP leader Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury Birbikram has announced his retirement from politics. In a dramatic move, he resigned from the post of Vice-Chairman and all other posts of the party, citing ‘health reasons’. Shamsher Mobin’s announcement was first heard on Thursday morning. He sent his resignation letter to BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia through the party’s Acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir. He submitted it to Mirza Fakhrul at his residence on Wednesday.In his resignation letter, he said, “You (Khaleda) know that I was seriously wounded during the Liberation War. I had to take treatment both at home and abroad. At present my health condition has further deteriorated. So, I am no more in a position to continue politics. That is why I have decided to retire from the politics with immediate effect. I hereby also resign all posts of the BNP.”Addressing a press conference in his residence in the city’s Banani on Thursday afternoon, Shamsher Mobin said, “I need to go abroad for the treatment of my eyes and prostate problems. Now I am more concerned about my health. I have not received my passport till now for unknown reason though I applied for renewal of the passport in July. I can’t go to Bangkok for the treatment. I will leave for abroad as soon as I get the passport.”About his sudden departure from politics, he said, it is now not possible for him to give time and efforts for politics due to his physical condition.Replying to a question of reporters, he said that he wouldn’t come back to the politics, as he had taken the final decision due to ‘health ground’. He won’t join any other political party also. When asked, if the BNP chief does not accept his resignation, he said, it matters little whether his resignation is accepted or not, as he has taken final decision. “People do politics on their own and quit it accordingly. My resignation had come into effect the moment I sent the letter,” he said.He, however, questioned the present ideology of the BNP. He said, he doubts like many others how much does the current BNP follow the ideals and thoughts of constructive politics of late president Ziaur Rahman.The former Foreign Secretary said, now there is a serious degradation in the politics. “Politicians are making many mistakes which people do not expect. The people want to see fair politics. They don’t want politics of violence and vengeance. I think massive changes should come in the political values and political behaviour for fair and constructive politics,” he added. The diplomat-turned politician also said that he, as a freedom fighter, would never retire from the Liberation War spirit and values.A gallantry award winning Freedom Fighter, Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury was an Army Lieutenant in 1971. He was deputed to the Foreign Ministry after the Liberation War. He was made Foreign Secretary during the BNP-Jamaat-led government between 2001 and 2005.The former diplomat was posted as Bangladesh Ambassador in the United States from 2005 to 2007. He was also posted in Sri Lanka, Germany, Vietnam and Russia. He joined the BNP in 2008 and made BNP Chairperson’s Foreign Affairs Adviser. He was made Vice-Chairman of the party in its 2009 council.The outgoing BNP leader was arrested on January 8 this year during the BNP-led 20-party alliance’s non-stop blockade. After about four and half months in detention, he was released on bail on May 22. He did not meet Khaleda Zia after the release, nor Khaleda Zia visited him. The BNP, however, has not given any official reaction as yet on the issue. The party’s standing committee member Goyeshwar Chandra Roy at a meeting in the city said with hopes that Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury would remain beside the nationalist force tough he resigned from the BNP.
