An unreasonable demand
During an iftar party hosted for the diplomats on September 26, 2008, AL Acting President Zillur Rahman claimed that withdrawal of all 'false cases' against Hasina is essential to create a congenial atmosphere for free, fair and transparent elections, and remarked that it would be impossible to move forward without making Hasina's release permanent. Mr. Rahman has however not clarified how does the holding of trials of an individual leader under the law of the land can interfere with the creation of a congenial atmosphere for free, fair and transparent elections. How can Mr. Rahman term cases against Hasina as false before the adjudication takes place? Does he have the moral or legal authority to exonerate an accused before the trial is held in a court of law? Do Mr. Rahman, himself a veteran lawyer, and his party AL believe that all are equal in the eye of law? If so, how can he make such an unreasonable demand, that too in the presence of foreign diplomats who are supposed not to poke their nose in our internal affairs?
Unfortunately, over the years, we have built up a very bad political culture in our country. No sooner a criminal case of, say, corruption, extortion, murder etc is filed against a politician than his/her cohorts come out in chorus demanding withdrawal of the case terming it as a false one. It is high time we come out of this dangerous culture which was primarily responsible for breeding corruption in our country. If none of the political leaders was corrupt then who made Bangladesh a leading corrupt country? Let our leaders like Shekh Hasina and Khaleda Zia set personal examples by fighting the cases filed against them in the court of law. They should also ask their followers not to raise such unreasonable demands as Mr. Rahman has done. Our judiciary is now independent. Surely they have nothing to fear. If they are proved not guilty in the court, I am sure, their public image will not only be free from present cloud, it will be much brighter. Fighting such cases in the court, and winning them, will discourage a sitting government from filing such cases if these are really false.
Unfortunately, over the years, we have built up a very bad political culture in our country. No sooner a criminal case of, say, corruption, extortion, murder etc is filed against a politician than his/her cohorts come out in chorus demanding withdrawal of the case terming it as a false one. It is high time we come out of this dangerous culture which was primarily responsible for breeding corruption in our country. If none of the political leaders was corrupt then who made Bangladesh a leading corrupt country? Let our leaders like Shekh Hasina and Khaleda Zia set personal examples by fighting the cases filed against them in the court of law. They should also ask their followers not to raise such unreasonable demands as Mr. Rahman has done. Our judiciary is now independent. Surely they have nothing to fear. If they are proved not guilty in the court, I am sure, their public image will not only be free from present cloud, it will be much brighter. Fighting such cases in the court, and winning them, will discourage a sitting government from filing such cases if these are really false.
posted by Ashraf's column at
12:25 AM
2 Comments:
By no means can the claim of Zillur be called unreasonable, this is yet another illogical and unrealistic blog from you my armed friend.
Since the day it occupied the chair, Moinuddin & his military followers are trying their best to control the courts, both Supreme & High!
Because of this undue influence, the trials against Hasina have to be dumped. The objective of these trials is to burr Hasina (& Khaleda, along with all other political leaders) from participating in the election(s).
This reason alone is sufficient to dismiss all the cases filed since the day of the coup.
Of course a veteran lawyer & politician like Zillur firmly believe that all are equal to the eyes of the law. It’s actually an insult to raise the question even. Good thing for you that he has too much to do right now, or else you would have to ask for his forgiveness had he filed a case of libel!!!
Please try to understand that Zillur, our beloved leader & an avid student of Bangabondhu Shiekh Mujibor Rahman, has taken a strong and expected stance against Moinuddin and his military followers who think that they are the one to be above law.
Now stating that, I certainly expect you to walk the talk now, and be a man enough to explain what moral and legal ground you have to question those of a highly esteemed & tested national leader as Zillur.
As a Bangladeshi by birth, please try to remember the enourmous sacrifices Zillur for our country! The last of which was to loose his beloved wife to a terrorist attack.
Looking forward to your reply blog (which will not be here, 99% possibility).
(I also wonder if you would publish it in your page, for I see you’ve deleted one comment already. May be you can’t tolerate opinion from the other side?)
By
Anonymous, At
8:38 AM
To support my prev comment, kindly post this recent news which only proves control over courts. Thanks
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chaklader bench gets new jurisdiction
Tue, Oct 7th, 2008 9:00 pm BdST
Dhaka, Oct 7 (bdnews24.com) - The judicial jurisdiction of the High Court bench of Justice Sharifuddin Chaklader and Justice Imdadul Haq Azad is being altered, as the chief justice reconstitutes some 30 separate benches during the Supreme Court vacation.
The bench of Chaklader and Azad has caught the media spotlight in recent months by granting bail to over 100 politicians and businessmen. It also suspended proceedings of about 60 cases filed by the Anticorruption Commission.
It has now been given jurisdiction to hear death reference cases instead of new criminal case appeals and will no longer have power to grant bail, for now.
bdnews24.com/at/eh/rah/2054hours
By
Anonymous, At
10:21 AM
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