“If anyone can prove that I termed Ziaur Rahman the first president of the country, I will quit politics,” he said during a press briefing at the parliament’s media centre yesterday, arranged in the face of severe criticisms that erupted during a parliamentary committee meeting on Wednesday.
In reply to a query, Subid posed a counter question: “Why should I say Zia was the first president? I am not getting any clue.”
Asked whether he will take any action for circulating “wrong information,” he said: “No matter who is saying what, the truth will prevail. I do not know who said what about me but I will not take any action [against them]. Such things happen in politics.”
According to several lawmakers who attended the meeting of the Parliamentary Committee on Public Undertaking, the members were discussing an incident in which a Dhaka University anniversary souvenir claimed Zia to be the first president. Subid Ali supported the claim and said that he had written the same in his book.
After his comment, Awami League lawmakers Muhibur Rahman Manik and Nurul Majid Humayun locked into a heated debate with him, calling him a BNP man and opportunist. Subid remained rigid on his stance.
The watchdog wanted to inquire the University Grants Commission about the publication. On July 1, the DU authorities suspended acting registrar Rezaur Rahman saying he had been responsible for the “printing mistake.”
Zia’s son Tarique Rahman made the claim first in 2014 at a seminar in London. BNP chief and Tarique’s mother Khaleda Zia later endorsed his view and publicly said her spouse was the first president.
Subid yesterday said: “I told the meeting that Ziaur Rahman claimed himself the president when he proclaimed independence from Kalurghat Radio Station [in 1971], and that mistake was corrected later. I told this in the committee meeting.”
In his written statement, the Comilla lawmaker said: “I want to say firmly that I did not say
Zia was the first president of the country.”
Thursday, April 25, 2024
