Bir Pratik Ibrahim 'barred from entering Bangabhaban'
Bir Pratik Syed Muhammad Ibrahim was allegedly barred from entering Bangabhaban to attend a Victory Day reception on Wednesday.
The Liberation War hero, major general Syed Ibrahim, also Bangladesh Kalyan Party chairman went to the Bangabhaban around 2:45pm on an invitation from the president’s office but was “sent back from the gate”.
“Is this the prize for a Bir Pratik? Was insulting a Bir Pratik so necessary on the country’s victory day?” Bir Pratik Syed Ibrahim lamented, in a post on social network Facebook.
Later on the day, he told Prothom Alo, “Since 1980, I’ve been usually getting invitation from Bangabhaban in all of national occasions including Victory day and Independence Day, but this time I could not enter Bangbabhaban.”
An ally of Khaleda Zia, the former military officer continued saying, “As I reached Bangabhaban gate, an on-duty army captain told me that my vehicle’s sticker is meant for main gate. Then I went to the main gate, where a police officer told me that SSF (Special Security Forces) has supplied them a list of some people who are not allowed entering Bangabhaban.”
He said, “The police officer told me that my name tops the list.”
Ibrahim also said, “I have three identities. One is: I am a Bir Pratik. Secondly, I am a retired major general of the Bangladesh Army and thirdly, I am the chief of a registered political party.”
“I don’t know which one of my identities they have humiliated by the way of barring me from entering Bangabhaban,” asked Ibram, who was declared a Bir Pratik, a gallantry award, for his valiant role in the 1971 liberation war.