Plaintiff says the BNP leader observed birthday on August 15 to undermine Bangabandhu
BSS: A Dhaka court on Thursday set March 3 for holding the hearing on charge framing in two cases lodged against BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.
Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Asaduzzaman Noor set the date, allowing a time plea filed by the defence.
Khaleda Zia’s counsel Masud Ahmed Talukder filed the time petition, saying his client could not appear before the court due to her illness.
Journalist Gazi Jahirul Islam lodged the case against Khaleda Zia on August 30, 2016 for celebrating a fake birthday.
According to the complainant, from 1996, Khaleda was celebrating her fake birthday on August 15, the day when the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was martyred along with most of his family members. She has been doing this on purpose only to dishonour the Father of the Nation.
The complainant also submitted copies of different newspaper reports on Khaleda’s birthday, copies of her passport, marriage certificate and mark sheets, which indicates her birthday on any other day but not August 15.
Jananetri Parishad president AB Siddiqui filed the other case on November 3, 2016, against Khaleda Zia and her late husband Ziaur Rahman for stigmatizing the War of Liberation by rehabilitating anti-Liberation War elements.
The BNP chief is on bail in both the cases as Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge KM Imrul Qayesh granted her bail on July 31, 2018.
