Government has transferred the Upazila administration chief, who had to spend hours behind bars in a case filed by a Barisal Awami League leader, to the Cabinet Division.
The public administration ministry on Monday issued the order to appoint Tariq Salmon as a senior assistant secretary.
While serving as the Upazila administration chief or UNO of Barisal’s Agailjhara, Salmon used a drawing of Nation’s Founder Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by a fifth-grader for the invitation card for an Independence Day event.
Salmon was sued by Barisal Bar Association President Obaidullah Saju for using the drawing, which he claimed was a ‘distortion’.
Saju also sat on the Awami League’s Barisal district unit’s committee.
On Jul 19, Salmon appeared in court and said in his defence that the portrait was one of the winners of an official drawing competition for school children for National Children’s Day.
Chief Judicial Magistrate Mohammad Ali Hossain scrapped his bail plea and the public servant was kept in a lock-up of the court for two hours until the same judge granted him bail.
Netizens flooded social media with angry posts that included photos of Salmon being taken to jail from the court with handcuffs.
Civil servants’ body, Bangladesh Administrative Service Association or BASA also condemned the incident and called for actions against those involved in a statement.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was also taken aback over the harassment of public servant, according to her adviser HT Imam. He had said they did not find the drawing distorted and described the UNO’s initiative as ‘splendid’.
A day after the court hearing, the Awami League suspended Saju over the lawsuit and sought his explanation.
The next day, police withdrew six of its men, including three officers, who were on duty in Barisal court that day.
On Jul 23, the Saju dropped the charges and petitioned to the court to withdraw the lawsuit, which was granted.
The next day the government stripped Barisal Deputy Commissioner Gazi Md Saifuzzaman and Barguna DC Bashirul Alam of official responsibilities while the Cabinet Division has opened a probe.
The law ministry has also forwarded a proposal to the Supreme Court seeking to transfer the Barisal judge who jailed the public servant.
Source: bdnews24
