JSD cries foul at Ashraf remark
AL leaders supports Ashraf; JSD for PM intervention to keep alliance intact
Left-leaning Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD-Inu) has apparently fallen into deep waters again with the Awami League central leaders and a Jatiya Party top leader supporting AL General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam who termed JSD a party of hypocrites. JSD leaders, however, termed the Ashraf comments a conspiracy against the AL-led alliance and urged Prime minister Sheikh Hasina, also AL chief, to act immediately and keep the alliance intact. At a programme in the city on Monday, Syed Ashraful Islam, also general secretary of the Awami League (AL), described JSD as a party of hypocrites. He said the AL will have to atone for the mistake of making a JSD leader minister in the Sheikh Hasina government. Last year, AL presidium member Sheikh Selim had alleged that JSD was responsible for creating the ground for the assassination of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Echoing the party general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam, the leaders of ruling party said the party general secretarys statement definitely bears significance. Talking to reporters in the city, road, transport and bridges minister Obaidul Quader said the party is yet to take a decision on JSD. The statement of the party general secretary is absolutely his personal comment, he added. When contacted, AL presidium member Nuh-ul-Alam Lenin said those close to the Prime Minister can make statements that are either personal or explain the partys position. I cannot make any statement on this issue, he said. AL organizing secretary Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury said the party general secretarys statement has certainly a significance. Whatever Ashraf Bhai said on Monday is true. He made the statement from history. JaSaD has definitely a controversial role after the Liberation War, he said.
AL joint general secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif also declined to make any comment on the JaSaD issue though he had earlier same statement that JaSaD had a controversial role after the Liberation War. In Parliament, Jatiya Party lawmaker Kazi Firoz Rashid also criticised JSD for its controversial role after the Liberation War. He said todays JSD had killed some 20 lakh people that set the stage for the assassination of Bangabandhu. Defending the statement of Syed Ashraful Islam, the JP leader also criticised Prime Minister Sheikh Hasinas decision to induct Hasanul Haque Inu in her cabinet. I think AL president Sheikh Hasina will make those carrying out secret killings members of Parliament, he said.
However, JSD leaders protested against Syed Ashraful Islams statement and urged Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to stop her partys general secretary from making statements criticising a partner of the AL-led 14-Party Alliance. The AL should not throw mud at its alliance partner for the sake of the unity of the Grand Alliance, said the partys factional general secretary Shirin Akhter. She was addressing a human chain organised in front of the National Press Club yesterday, in protest against the death threat to information minister Hasanul Haque Inu.
When we are working together to complete the unfinished task of the Liberation War and assisting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to take the country forward, such statements will hamper the unity of the alliance and weaken the pro-Liberation forces, she said. Addressing the programme, JSD leader and Dhaka University professor, Anwar Hossain, said: Prime minister Sheikh Hasina should stop her party general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam immediately. Otherwise, the unity of the 14-Party Alliance will be hampered.
Another faction chief of JSD, ASM Abdur Rob, criticised Syed Ashraful Islams statement and alleged that the AL itself was responsible for the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. He made the comment in a party press release yesterday.
Terming the AL leaders statement as false and fabricated, Sharif Nurul Ambia, another factional chief of JaSaD, said: I am stunned by his sudden statement against our party. Criticizing AL general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam for branding JSD a platform of hypocrites, JSD leader Moin Uddin Khan Badal said what Syed Ashraf had said about their party is not logical. He said those incidents took place between the 1972 and 1975 all should be disclosed to the nation.
On March 12, the left party witnessed the latest split, as a group of leaders, led by Sharif Nurul Ambia, general secretary of the partys immediate past committee, walked out of its national council. They were protesting against election of leaders in an undemocratic way. At the council session, the JSD faction led by Inu formed a central committee and re-elected Inu as its president, Shirin Akhter its general secretary and Robiul Alam executive its president. The party came into being after a faction split from the AL on October 31, 1972. Since then, the party has faced several splits. The party first split in 1981 when Khalequzzaman left the party and formed Bangladesher Samajtantrik Dal. In 1984, party president Abdul Jalil left the party and ASM Abdur Rob and Shahjahan Siraj formed two JSD factions. In 1986, the Shahjahan-led faction splitone group was led by Shajahan Siraj, and the other by Kazi Aref Ahmed and Inu.
