Didn’t say it was Khaleda’s: Moudud

Senior BNP leader Moudud Ahmed has disowned his claim after party chief Khaleda Zia told Parliament the Washington Times article was not hers.

He had earlier claimed Khaleda had written the article after its publication in January this year.

The Opposition Leader had told Parliament on Saturday that she had not written the article published under her name.

Moudud, who sat beside Khaleda during the session, on Monday told bdnews24.com he had not issued any such statement regarding Khaleda’s article.

Khaleda had drawn flak from ruling party leaders for her article.

They said Khaleda had committed a crime amounting to sedition by inviting foreign intervention.

On Feb 1, Moudud replied to the ruling party’s criticisms on which bdnews24.com ran a report.

“She (Khaleda) had called attention of the United States and all other well-wishers of Bangladesh. It was not to protect BNP … it was to guard democracy in the country,” he had said.

The BNP standing committee member, hauled up by Awami League leaders for changing political parties, had said the ruling party’s criticism proved Khaleda there was truth in her article.

Events took an interesting turn on Saturday after the US suspended quota-free access to Bangladeshi goods into its market on Jun 27. Khaleda denied having written the column in the Washington Times.

“Some are speaking about an article published in a foreign newspaper under my name. But I didn’t send any letter,” she said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was present in the House during Khaleda’s speech, raised a copy of the article written by Khaleda in the US paper, but Khaleda said, “It’s not written by me.”

After Khaleda’s categorical denial, bdnews24.com contacted Moudud about his previous statement. “I never issued any statement that the column was [written] by Khaleda. Those making such claims are lying,” he said.

Hasina insisted Khaleda indeed was the author saying, “There is a lot of similarity between that article and her speech today (Saturday).”

“There is no use denying it. It says here – Khaleda Zia’s article, former Prime Minister and present Opposition Leader. This is available on the Internet,” Hasina said.

The article had feared Bangladesh was going under a family rule instead of democracy.

Party’s spokesperson Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Feb 6 had backed Khaleda’s article saying, “The BNP leader wrote the article to highlight the current state of the country. She (Khaleda) can do that as a citizen.”

Source: Bd news24