4 VIP prisoners to get released
Morshed Kanchan
At
least four VIP prisoners facing various types of charges are going to
be released from prison on condition of bading farewell to politics.
Process of releasing Awami League general secretary Abdul Jalil started
last week, when he sent a letter from the prison to the President and
Chief Advisor expressing his willingness to leave politics as well to
become the main witness against Sheikh Hasina in a number of corruption
charges. It is learnt that, family members of Jalil are now seeing high
hope of his release in next few days, when the general secretary of the
one of the two largest political parties in Bangladesh might be taken
abroad for treatment. Abdul Jalil suffers from various physical
complications and now is under the treatment of speacialist physicians
at the intensive care unit in prison cell of PG Hospital.
Political
analysts are considering detained Awami League general secretary M
Abdul Jalil’s announcement of possible retirement from active politics
as ‘a political hara-kiri’ by a veteran politician like him.
They
think that the remarks of Jalil in his letter to the Chief Adviser have
already created strong uproar inside Awami League. It will also have a
far-reaching impact on the Awami League politics and the party’s
leadership in future.
According to them, Jalil’s remarks will go in
favor of those who are known as “reformists” inside the Awami League.
The position of reformists inside the party will be strengthened by
Jalil’s remarks and observations against Sheikh Hasina.
At the
same, his letter will lead to a deep division inside the ranks and
files of Awami League and undermine the absolute authority exercised by
Sheikh Hasina along with her close relatives inside the party for long.
Besides, Jalil’s letter will create confusion and frustration among the party’s leaders and workers at grassroots level.
In
a letter to Chief Adviser Dr Fakhruddin Ahmed from Dhaka Central Jail
on Thursday, Jalil blamed Awami League President Sheikh Hasina for
“exercising dictatorial powers” in the party, saying that Hasina was
solely responsible for ruining the party.
Jalil’s
announcement of retiring from politics came as a bolt from the blue for
his party colleagues who could not imagine that a veteran and elderly
politician like Jalil could go down to such an extent for his release
from jail.
Senior leaders of Awami League, who are close
associates of Jalil in the party, have strongly criticized the remarks
of their party’s general secretary although the reformists in BNP
praised Jalil’s remarks saying that his remarks are also applicable to
BNP and its chairperson.
Jalil has been described as a ‘coward’ by the party’s acting general secretary Mukul Bose.
In
an interview with a private television channel, Mukul Bose said that,
Jalil by criticizing Sheikh Hasina in his letter to the Chief Adviser,
had proved himself as a coward.
When Jalil was outside the jail, he
never made such kinds of remarks. But he made the undesirable remarks
criticizing the party chief after he was sent to jail.
“His remarks indicate that he has now become a coward,” Mukul Bose said.
On the other hand, BNP’s joint secretary general Ashraf Hossain praised Jalil’s remarks.
“What Awami League general secretary M Abdul Jalil said in his letter about the party chief is also applicable to BNP,” he said.
According
to Ashraf Hossain, Jalil identified some problems in his letter
regarding his party chief Sheikh Hasina. “BNP is also afflicted by the
same problems. That is why the progress of democratic BNP has seriously
been affected,” he said.
Ashraf Hossain also observed that nurturing
family dynasty, ignoring the party’s ideology, patronizing sycophants
and sheltering looters inside the party seriously tarnished the image
of BNP.
Besides, the party’s democratic progress has also been affected due to these reasons, he said.
Meanwhile,
family members of three more VIP prisoners are now seeing the hope of
their release on condition of leaving politics. Eminent parliamentarian
Salauddin Quader Chowdhury might be allowed to go abroad for treatment
along with the members of his family. Similar option may also be given
to former president of FBCCI Abdul Awal Mintoo and former state
minister for Home Affairs Lutfozzaman Babar. It may be mentioned here
that both Salauddin Quader Chowdhury and Lutofzzaman Babar are
suffering from serious physical ailment. Babar is a long time asthma
patient and doctors have already found the presence of cancer in his
stomach. He was scheduled to take chemotherapy in
Singapore
in May. According to physicians, life of this man might be in extreme
danger if he is not given proper treatment to keep the growth of
cancer. Lutfozzaman
Babar had been a close associate of Tareque Rahman during the past
BNP-Jamaat Coalition rule. It is anticipated that, Babar might agree to
become the main witness in a number of corruption charges against
Giasuddin Mamun, Tareque Rahman and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia.
He already has given valuable information to the interrogators during
his interrogations. Lutfozzaman Babar came in the media focal point
during his tenure as the state minister for Home Affairs, when he
successfully combated the notorious activities of outlawed Islamist
militancy group Jamaatul Mujahedin Bangladesh (JMB) and other minor
religious terrorist groups. He had also been successful in combating
crime through the creation of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).
