A supporter of former Bangladesh Prime Minister Khaleda Zia lodged a petition in court yesterday to block efforts by the army-backed government to send her into exile. Babul Chowdhury, a member of a front organization of Khaleda’s Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), filed the writ in the High Court saying it was a human rights violation to force her to leave the country or “put her under house arrest.” Khaleda has been under virtual confinement at her home for nearly two weeks.Sources in the army-backed interim government and Khaleda’s party said earlier this week she had entered a deal with authorities to go abroad in return for dealing leniently with her jailed elder son and political heir apparent Tareque Rahman.
Reports said that under the same deal authorities released KhaledaÂ’s younger son Arafat Rahman just 24 hours after he was detained. But on Wednesday KhaledaÂ’s close associates said she had changed her mind and now wanted to stay in Bangladesh. The high court said it would examine and rule on the writ on Sunday.
Analysts said Khaleda’s decision to fight to stay in the country may have been encouraged by her rival Hasina Wajed’s determination to return to Bangladesh against government orders. Hasina, herself a former prime minister, arrived in London yesterday from a private visit to the United States and will fly home to Dhaka early on Monday, officials of her Awami League party said. Hasina has vowed to defy the government’s bar on her return to the country. She said that “nothing would stop” her return to participate in elections and defend herself against charges of murder and extortion.