Politics
MP Pankaj Debnath suspended from AL
Pankaj Debnath, the lawmaker of Barishal-4 P(Hizla-Mehendiganj), has been suspended from all posts of Awami League (AL) on charges of violating the party discipline.
In this regard, a letter signed by AL office secretary Biplob Barua was issued on Monday and later in the afternoon it was forwarded to the Barishal unit AL president Abul Hasnat Abdullah and general secretary Talukder Md Yunus.
When asked, lawmaker Pankaj Debnath said, “I received a letter concerning the matter from the central office. I have nothing to say at this moment.”
The letter reads, “As per the party constitution, AL executive committee has removed you from all AL posts including the advisory post of Barishal district unit AL, for violating the party rules and regulations. You are requested to submit your written explanation of the above-mentioned issue to the central AL office within the next 15 days.”
The Awami League said there is a longstanding feud between two factions of AL at Mehendiganj in Barishal. Centering the enmity, several people were murdered during the last Union Parishad (UP) elections.
Of the factions, one is led by Upazila AL president Maidul Islam and general secretary and pourashava mayor Kamal Khan with support from district AL while the other by MP Pankaj Debnath.
Sources said the followers of both groups hacked one another, storming into the emergency unit of the hospital at Mehendiganj on 28 August that left six leaders and activists wounded.
While the injured belonged to the group of Upazila AL president and secretary, the accused ones were the followers of Pankaj Debnath. Of the injured, four were taken to Barishal for better treatment.
District unit AL general secretary, Talukder Md Yunus, told that they received a letter over the expulsion of Pankaj Debnath from the party.
He said MP Pankaj took various kinds of ill attempts against local AL leaders in the last four years, including killing, repressing and implicating them in false cases, to divide the party at Mehendiganj in a bid to establish his supremacy.
In the context of these incidents, the central committee has come up with the decision, the general secretary added.
Former chairman of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) Muhammad Shahabuddin Chuppu is set to become the 22nd President of Bangladesh.
Prime Minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina have nominated former ACC commissioner Shahabuddin Chuppu as the party’s presidential candidate.
On behalf of Shahabuddin Chuppu, a delegation of the party led by its General Secretary Obaidul Quader submitted the nomination paper to the Election Commission secretariat on Sunday (February 12) morning.
Freedom fighter Shahabuddin Chuppu is the AL’s advisory council member.
Today is the last day for submitting the nomination papers to Election Commission (EC) for the Presidential election.
Scrutiny of nomination papers will take place on February 13 from 10 am, while nomination papers can be withdrawn till 4 pm on February 14.
The 22nd Presidential election will be held from 2 pm to 5 pm on February 19 in the Jatiya Sangsad (JS) complex.
The President may hold office for five years from the date of assumption of office.
Incumbent President M Abdul Hamid assumed office on April 24, 2018. Accordingly, his five-year tenure will end on April 23, 2023.
Former president of Pakistan and Army chief Pervez Musharraf passed away at a private hospital in Dubai.
Musharraf, 79, had been undergoing treatment for an ailment at the American hospital in Dubai. Musharraf, four-star general of the Pakistan Army, became the tenth president of Pakistan after a military takeover of the government in 1999. He was chief executive of Pakistan from October 1999 to November 2002 and president from June 2001 to August 2008.
The former military ruler had been suffering from the rare disease amyloidosis, caused by a build-up of an abnormal protein called amyloid in organs and tissues.
Awami League (AL) lawmaker Haji Salim walked out of jail on Tuesday. The deputy jailer of Dhaka central prison Abdus Selim confirmed the matter to the Bangladesh news media.
Haji Salim was in the prison cell of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU).
A team, led by the deputy jailer Abdus Selim with papers pertaining to bail order went to BSMMU on Tuesday around 1:00 pm. Hundreds of leaders and activists of ruling party welcomed him at the entrance of BSMMU with floral garland.
Earlier on 6 December, the Appellate Division of Supreme Court granted bail to Haji Salim, accepting his leave-to-appeal petition against the High Court (HC) verdict upholding the 10 years of imprisonment in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) over amassing wealth beyond known sources.
