Staff Reporter :Hundreds of protestors on Tuesday staged demonstration and demanded trial of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in sedition charge for raising question in her recent statement about the exact number of people embraced martyrdom inthe country’s Liberation War in 1971. They also asked BNP Chairperson to seek apology to the nation for her obnoxious remarks against martyrdom, Bangladesh and father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.Leaders and workers of Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, Muktijoddha Sangsad, Sector Commanders’ Forum, freedom fighters, ruling Awami League, its associate bodies and student wing Bangladesh Chhatra League and pro-liberation socio-cultural organisations took part in the demonstration in city’s Gulshan-2 intersection from 10:00am to 12:00noon.They also urged the government to enact a law, like European countries’ Holocaust Denial Act, with provisions of punishment for denial of historically established facts and settled issues.As the protesters in a procession tried to march towards the BNP chairperson’s residence at Gulshan, police intercepted them at Gulshan-2 intersection and sealed off the road leading to the Gulshan area. Shahriar Kabir, acting president, Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee said Khaleda Zia simply reconfirmed her stance what she believes.”Khaleda Zia will have to seek apology to the nation for her obnoxious remarks. I’m demanding of the government to file sedition charge against BNP Chairperson,” he said.He said none has the right to make obnoxious comment on Liberation War and freedom fighters. Shahriar also demanded formulation of a law to punish those who will make offensive remarks against freedom fighters. He said they registered their protest in a peaceful manner as the area is under diplomatic zone.”Making any offensive comment on Liberation is equal to denial of historically established facts and settled issues. The stance of Pakistan, the Jamaat and the BNP regarding the 1971 genocide and the ongoing war crimes trial is the same. I was not surprised by her comment,” he said. Former judge of Supreme Court Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik said Khaleda has insulted the Liberation War and its martyrs – it is tantamount to sedition.”Khaleda Zia should be put on trial under sedition charge,” he said. Sculptor Ferdousi Priyabhashini called upon the journalists to boycott BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia and urged the government to file a sedition case against her. “As Khaleda is an agent of Pakistan, she should be ousted from the country,” she said.Sammilita Sangskritik Jote President Nasiruddin Yousuf Bachhu said the country’s pro-liberation forces will not allow Khaleda to do politics here. State Minister for Post and Telecommunications Tarana Halim said the government will soon formulate a liberation war denial law. “Enough is enough. We have tolerated enough, no more,” she said. On December 26, Prime Minister’s ICT Adviser Sajeeb Wazed Joy blasted BNP Chief Khaleda Zia for questioning the number of martyrs in Liberation War and asked people to stage protests in front of her house. On December 21, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia at a discussion in city raised a question about the exact number of people embraced martyrdom in the country’s 1971 Liberation War. “Khaleda’s remarks triggered widespread criticism, prompting Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee to ask her to withdraw her comments and apologise. A defamation case was also filed on Thursday in Narail against Khaleda in this connection.Later on December 25, BNP standing committee member Goyeshwar Chandra Roy at a discussion in city described the 1971 martyred intellectuals as “anti-liberation elements” who “died like fools” and drew salaries and allowances from Pakistan till the end of the war.According to official figure, the war death toll is 30 lakh people (three million) while 2.5 lakh women were violated by the Pakistani occupation forces and their local collaborators. About 10 million people fled the country to take shelter in India, while millions more were internally displaced.
