Demand of scrapping law tantamount to lawlessness: Info minister

Information minister Hasan Mahmud on Thursday said the demand for scrapping law in case of any death in prison is tantamount to lawlessness, reports state-run news agency BSS.

“If someone is arrested under a law and dies naturally in prison, then is it needed to scrap the act or repeal all laws?” he posed a question.

Mahmud, also joint general secretary of ruling Awami League, said these while talking to newspersons at the meeting room of his ministry at secretariat in the capital.

Criticising the ‘civil society’, the minister said the number of the people who are demanding scrapping law is a very few. There are vast population in Bangladesh and a few people who always stand in front of the press club and raise voice against the government do not represent the whole population.

He said the Digital Security Act (DSA) has been enacted to ensure security to all.

The information minister further said different countries have such act and arrests and punishments are being made under the law. “But we are very much careful while applying the act and it is not acceptable to abuse the act.”

Replying to another query on the proposal of withdrawal the title of Ziaur Rahman, Hasan said, at first the role of Ziaur Rahman in the Liberation War was mysterious though he was a sector commander.

“The houses came under attack from where a glass of water was offered to the freedom fighters during the country’s liberation struggle. Then how Zia’s wife and his sons took shelter as guests in the cantonment of Pakistani? This is mysterious,” he added.

Secondly, the minister said, a Pakistani army official wrote a letter to Ziaur Rahman that they (Pakistani) are happy on his (Zia) activities. There is a copy of that letter, he added.

And thirdly, Hasan said, Ziaur Rahman was actively involved in the assassination of Bangabandhu on 15 August 1975 and he (Zia) rehabilitated the killers of Bangabandhu. He (Zia) made the anti-liberation forces as ministers who didn’t want Bangladesh and took part in the mass killing on behalf of Pakistani.

He said Zia made Shah Azizur Rahman as prime minister who visited the United Nations and did lobby as the deputy leader of Pakistan during the Liberation War. And why Zia made him (Azizur) as prime minister is a big question, he added.

“In guise of a freedom fighter, he in the true sense acted as an ally of Pakistan. However, the final decision to cancel his title has not been made yet,” Hasan said.

Speaking about petition for extension of suspended prison by Khaleda Zia’s family, the information minister said the home and law ministries are examining the legal aspects of the matter.

Earlier, the minister inaugurated the three-day long ‘International Conference on Advancement of Civil Engineering’ through online.

Civil Engineering Department of Chattogram University of Engineering and Technology (CUET) organised the conference.

In his speech, Hasan praised the ability and creativity of the civil engineers of Bangladesh, saying such conference is important to increase communication across the globe.

CUET vice chancellor professor Mohammed Rafiqul Alam and Civil Engineering Department chairman Sudip Kumar Paul, among others, addressed the inaugural function.