Jatiya Party leader says he will bring Sheikh Hasina back, remarks spread on Facebook

A statement about bringing back ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina has spread on social media platform Facebook. The remarks were made on Thursday night at an election rally in Badarganj upazila of Rangpur district by Mokammel Haque Chowdhury, a member of the Jatiya Party’s central committee.

Mokammel Haque Chowdhury made the remarks at an election rally of Anisul Islam Mondol, the Jatiya Party candidate for the Rangpur-2 constituency and a former member of parliament. Jatiya Party nominated candidate along with party leaders from Badarganj and Taraganj upazilas were present at the rally.

In his speech, Mokammel Haque Chowdhury said, “We, the Jatiya Party, are on the side of the Awami League. We are not afraid of imprisonment or repression. We will not allow any oppression of innocent Awami League leaders.”

“If the Jatiya Party comes to power, we will withdraw all cases against the Awami League and we will bring back people’s leader Sheikh Hasina to the country with due honour. We will withdraw all false cases against the Awami League. Isn’t that right, Anis bhai—won’t we withdraw them? Say it…” added Mokammel Haque Chowdhury.

Mokammel Haque’s home is in Krishnapur union of Badarganj upazila. He is a lawyer at the Rangpur court. His cousin Duke Chowdhury is a former Awami League MP, and his uncle Anisul Haque Chowdhury is a former state minister for communications.j

Badarganj upazila Jamaat-e-Islami ameer Md Kamruzzaman Kabir said the Jatiya Party was working to bring back the “fascist” Awami League. He added that the upazila Jatiya Party had made its position clear.

In a press statement, Md Mostakur Rahman, joint convener of the Jatiya Party’s Badarganj upazila committee, said that the comments Mokammel Haque Chowdhury made about Sheikh Hasina were made mistakenly and reflected his personal opinion.

Attempts to contact Mokammel Haque Chowdhury directly were unsuccessful. However, Anisul Islam Mondol, the Jatiya Party candidate for the Rangpur-2 constituency, told Prothom Alo, “He said he would bring Sheikh Hasina back—that was a slip of the tongue. He did not mean to say that. He said it in the heat of the moment. Later, he himself admitted that it was a mistake.”