Terming farce the sedition case filed against its chairperson Khaleda Zia, BNP on Monday said this was done just out of political vengeance.

‘False cases are being filed one after another against our leader (Khaleda). A sedition case was also filed against her today (Monday). This case is nothing but a farce and it was filed out of political vengeance,’ said BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, reported the United News of Bangladesh.

Nearly one and a half hours after lodging the case, the BNP leader came up with their party’s reaction to it while addressing a programme of Jatiyatabadi Krishok Dal at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh.

Supreme Court lawyer Momtaz Uddin Ahmed Mehedi filed the case with the court of Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Mohammad Rashed Talukdar in the morning urging the court to issue an arrest warrant against BNP chairperson for her remarks about the number of martyrs during the 1971 Liberation War.

On 21 December last, Khaleda Zia at a discussion at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh raised questions about the actual number of Liberation War martyrs saying, ‘There’re controversies over how many were martyred in the Liberation War. There’re also many books and documents on the controversies.

On 21 January, the Home Ministry approved filing a sedition case against BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia for her ‘derogatory’ remarks about martyrs.

Fakhrul alleged that the sedition case was also filed with a motive to keep Khaleda away from politics due to her immense popularity. ‘Their (govt’s) existence remains at stake as long as Khaleda Zia is there in politics and on the streets. That’s why they want to remove her from politics. But, the people of Bangladesh won’t accept it.’

He also claimed that there was no element of treason in Khaleda’s remark about the martyrs of the Liberation War. ‘She (Khaleda) had said the exact number of martyrs should be determined so that we can properly honour and respect them. I’ve already also clarified it through a statement.’