BNP wants independent experts in Tipai team

BNP yesterday made it clear that it would not be part of the all party parliamentary team which is expected to visit the proposed Tipaimukh Dam project site in India if national level experts are not included in that committee.
The BNP proposed five names of experts for inclusion in the team. They are Dr Ainun Nishat, Asafuddowla, Dr Tarafder, MA Rab and Dr Asif Nazrul.
“BNP is not willing to visit the Tipaimukh Dam project site with the parliamentary team if are not included in the team,” former law minister and BNP standing committee member Barrister Moudud Ahmed said at a roundtable in the city yesterday.
Reiterating the demand for formulating a national specialist committee for visiting the Tipaimukh Dam project area Moudud opposed the government’s plan for sending an all-party parliamentary team there as the visit of this committee will only give India legitimacy for constructing the dam. Moudud said, many inside the government are against the construction of Tipaimukh Dam project but they cannot open their mouth for due reasons. He urged the patriotic nationalist forces to be united to protect the country’s sovereignty and independence.
Meanwhile, addressing a press briefing at the media centre at the parliament complex yesterday Opposition Chief Whip Zainul Abdin Farroque stated the BNP position and proposed the names of the experts. He said BNP would agree to join the delegation that would visit Tipaimukh project area only if it includes a neutral national level water experts’ team.
Farroque said that on behalf of the chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Water Resources Ministry, they were urged to send the name of a BNP representative for inclusion in the all-party parliamentary team that would visit Tipaimukh project area.
He said BNP thinks that it would be meaningless to send any delegation to Tipaimukh project area without inclusion of experts in the team.
The opposition chief whip said it would not be possible for BNP to nominate a representative to the delegation unless it includes a neutral national level team of experts.
“We hope that the government will consider our proposal and take national initiative to face a national issue like Tipaimukh,” he said, requesting the government to include the five names of the experts proposed by BNP, in the delegation.
He said BNP has always been saying that it would cooperate with the government on issues favouring national interest.
According to a member of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Water Resources Ministry, a 10-member parliamentary team for visiting the Tipaimukh project area has been formed. The team includes four lawmakers from ruling Awami League, one from Jatiya Party and one from Jamaat-e-Islami while another lawmaker’s name was sought from BNP. There will be three experts in the team.
Most of the lawmakers in the Tipaimukh team are members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Water Resources Ministry.
Replying to a question on BNP’s return to parliament, the opposition chief whip said they are abstaining from parliament over certain issues. These include seat allocation in the front row of the House, restriction on the entry of opposition leader Khaleda Zia’s government allocated car to her cantonment residence, restriction on entry of Khaleda’s personal physician, staffs and relatives to her residence and frequent withdrawal of police security from Begum Zia’s Gulshan office. He said the BNP lawmakers had met with Speaker Abdul Hamid requesting him to talk with the government for resolving the issues and the Speaker had assured that he would discuss the matter with the government.
Farroque said they still have not got any response from the Speaker about those issues.
BNP lawmakers Barrister Mahbubuddin Khokon, Nazrul Islam Manju and Shahid Uddin Chowdhury Annie were, among others, present at the press briefing.
 
Courtesy of The Independent