Caretaker Govt.'s action sparks row

By Haroon Habib

DHAKA, AUG. 18. The caretaker Government of Bangladesh, which has completed one month in office, has touched off a controversy by effecting a major shake-up of the police and administrative set- up.

The Awami League led by Sheikh Hasina has accused the Government of replacing ``pro-Liberation'' officials with ``identified anti- Liberation elements''.

The massive reshuffle in the administration was welcomed by the four-party alliance led by Begum Khaleda Zia. It is significant that the fundamentalist Jamaat-e-Islami plays a key role in this political grouping.

The Awami League and its supporters in the cultural, intellectual and professional fronts have termed the shake-up as a ``subtle conspiracy' to ensure the party's defeat in the election.

``We are really alarmed at such actions of the caretaker Government, and it appears to us that they are virtually fulfilling the agenda of a particular political party'', said Sheikh Hasina, who on Thursday left Ganobhaban, the state guest house which she had used as her official residence as Prime Minister.

``I am leaving Ganobhaban since questions have been raised by certain quarters and a case has been filed against the Cabinet decision to allocate me the state guest house'', she told reporters as she walked out of the redbrick building.

``I have now left Ganobhaban, now let the BNP chief Begum Khaleda Zia leave the residence of the former army chief and President at the Dhaka cantonment''.

The cantonment residence has been used by Khaleda Zia ever since her husband, Gen. Ziaur Rahman, was assassinated in 1981.

The caretaker Government observed ``National Mourning Day'' on Aug. 15 by paying tributes to the nation's Founding Father, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, whose assassins are still awaiting the final verdict on their conviction.

The President, Mr. Justice Shahabuddin Ahmed, and the Chief Adviser to the Caretaker Government, Mr. Justice Latifur Rahman, paid tributes to the national hero at his Dhanmandi residence, where he was assassinated in 1975 along with most of his family members.

A leading member of the Council of Advisers, Syed Ishtiaque Ahmed, visited Mujib's grave at Tungipara, 100 km from Dhaka.

In their messages on the day, the President said the assassination of Mujib was ``an indelible disgraceful chapter'' in the nation's history.

The Chief Adviser said the nation achieved independence under Mujib's fearless leadership. ``He placed an independent and sovereign Bangladesh in a prestigious position in the world arena''.

Meanwhile, the Mujib murder trial faced another setback on Thursday after defence counsel said they felt ``prejudiced'' to make submissions before the judge of the appeals court, Mr. Justice Golam Rabbani, and demanded reconstitution of the Appellate Division.

The judge, who was embarrassed, announced that he was withdrawing from the case. The Chief Justice, Mr. Mahmudul Amin Chowdhury, said Justice Rabbani had decided to withdraw himself from hearing the case in line with the time-honoured values of the court as ``mere doing justice is not enough, it must be seen to have been done''.

Legal experts said in accordance with the Constitution and relevant laws, the President would now appoint a High Court judge in the Appellate Division on an ad-hoc basis in place of Justice Rabbani.

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Section  : International
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