DHAKA, 27 October 2003 — State Minister for Civil Aviation and Tourism Mir Mohammad Nasiruddin yesterday filed a defamation suit against 17 top Awami League leaders for naming him in a list of “godfathers of terrorists” the opposition party has published.
Following the case filing in the southeastern port city of Chittagong, Metropolitan Magistrate Monwarul Islam summoned the Awami League leaders, including Abdus Samad Azad and Abdul Jalil, to appear in the court by Jan. 7.
A meeting, under the aegis of the ruling four-party alliance, was later held outside the court.
Addressing the gathering, the minister said the Awami League, during their rule, had created a large number of godfathers and they are now trying to hide their failure and defeat “by calling us godfathers”.
“The persons they identified as godfathers would soon be declared national heroes by the people,” he told the rally.
Nasiruddin said despite such desperate allegation being made by the opponents, “we would continue work in the political field and soon resist Awami League’s fascism”.
The ruling party leaders have so far filed at least five defamation cases in different parts of Bangladesh after the Awami League released a list of 110 leaders of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the Jamaat-e-Islami calling them “godfathers of terrorists”.
