Hasan Mahmud: No evidence of existence of Zia's body in Chandrima Udyan

Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Friday said there is no evidence of the existence of Zia's body in Dhaka’s Chandrima Udyan.

“Three bodies were recovered from a grave in Rangunia... But none of which included Ziaur Rahman's body,” the minister, also ruling Awami League joint-general secretary, told this while exchanging views with journalists at his official residence on Friday afternoon.

Replying to a query of newsmen about the prime minister's remarks in the Jatiya Sangsad (Parliament), Dr Hasan said: “I am a man of Rangunia, where the BNP claims that Zia was first buried. The then Rangunia upazila chairman Zahir Saheb is still alive and he said three bodies were recovered from there, but there was no body of Zia.”

Besides, Ershad Saheb and Mir Shawkat, who were very close to Ziaur Rahman, both said they had not seen Zia's body there, he mentioned.

About PM’s remarks on this issue, Hasan said the premier rightly pointed out that none saw Ziaur Rahman’s body there.

Asked about the removal of the grave from Chandrima Udyan, the information minister said: "Demanding for a grave without any body is like deceiving the people as well as an act against the rules and regulations of Islam. People raised questions about whether there is any reason to keep the grave without the body."

Also Read -  PM Hasina: Zia’s body is not kept at Chandrima Udyan and BNP knows it

Referring to the recent remark of BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir that AL is torturing BNP for staying in power permanently, Hasan said: “Awami League believes in the power of the people... It will run the country as long as the people want,”

He said people are satisfied with the leadership of PM Sheikh Hasina, the daughter of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, and Awami League as well in the way the country has tremendously achieved progress in the last 13 years.

The people are not supposed to be with the BNP, which killed many, including sleeping people, with petrol bombs in the name of enforcing nationwide blockade, he said, adding that the BNP itself has become an opponent of the people and has moved far away from them through their activities.

As the party in power, the Awami League does not believe in suppressing the opposition, the minister said.

“If BNP takes side with terrorists, petrol bomb-throwers or criminals, then no criminal law can be enforced across the country, there will be no justice,” Dr Hasan observed, terming all these things of BNP ridiculous.