Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu on Monday accused the human rights organization Odhikar of working with political motives.
“Odhikar secretary Adilur Rahman Khan was a Deputy Attorney General during the erstwhile four-party alliance government. He also has close ties with the Jamaat-e-Islami,“the information minister alleged. The minister made the claim at a press briefing amid protests from BNP, Jamaat-e-Islami and several international human rights groups over the arrest of Adilur Rahman Khan on Monday on charges of fabricating news about killing of 61 Hefazat-e-Islam activists in Dhaka on May 6 Shapla Chattar and
The press conference was organized by the Information Ministry at the conference room of the PID at the Secretariat.
Hasanul Haq Inu also brushed aside the Odikar’s claim, made in one of its recent reports, that 61 people were killed in the police drive on that fateful night on May 6, while clearing the Shapla Chattar in Dhaka of Hefazat activists who had decided to occupy the space.
He also said that due to the report of the Odhikar people have become confused about the exact number of the casualties in clashes between the law enforcers and the Hefazat activists.
He noted that everyone knew that only a few people died. But the Odhikar report said, a total of 61 people died during the clash.
He also informed that when the government officials and law enforcing agencies asked it to provide the identities of the dead, the organization refused to provide the identities of the dead.
Inu said ” if they had carried out specific research on that why they are shy to giveaway the identities.”
Khan was arrested on Saturday night from Gulshan on charges of ‘distorting information’ regarding the May 5-6 police drive to clear the rampaging Hefazat-e Islam activists in and around the Motijheel area.
The government dismissed the claims as rumour and last month sent a letter to the organization seeking proof of what it had mentioned in the report. Odhikar had sent a reply.
-With The Independent input
