Khaleda writes to Hasina, naming team to visit Tipaimukh

The leader of the opposition in parliament and BNP’s chairperson, Khaleda Zia, on Monday wrote a letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, naming a six-member team for visiting the site of the proposed Tipaimukh dam, in response to the latter’s request that BNP send a separate team.
The team comprises BNP’s two vice-chairmen, MK Anwar and former water resources minister Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, and four technical experts — former water resources secretary Muhammad Asafuddowlah, Dhaka University’s former vice-chancellor Maniruzzaman Miah, former director general of Water Development Board Sharif Rafiqul Islam and Dhaka University’s teacher of geography and environment Abdur Rab.
A three-member delegation led by BNP’s joint secretary general, Nazrul Islam Khan, handed over the letter to the prime minister’s assignment officer, Manoj Kanti Baral, and protocol officer II, Pralay Kumar Jowardar.
Khaleda said she came to know from the media that the prime minister had asked BNP to send a separate team to visit the dam’s site. ‘We think national consensus would have been expressed if we could all send a single team, comprising technical experts, to visit Tipaimukh. But you have asked the BNP to send a separate team to Tipaimukh. We agree to your proposal in the national interest and will send a delegation consisting of technical experts,’ she wrote in her letter.
Referring to the foreign minister’s statement that India has provided Bangladesh with all the necessary information on the dam, Khaleda asked Hasina to send copies of those documents to the BNP so that the delegation could get acquainted with the technical aspects and get adequately prepared to assess the impact of the proposed dam.
‘You know that we, being in the opposition, cannot send such a delegation directly to another country. So, in line with your proposal, we request you to make the necessary arrangements for the delegation’s visit to Tipaimukh and collect the necessary data and information from India through the foreign affairs ministry,’ Khaleda wrote.
‘The Tipaimukh dam is a national problem which should be solved through a national consensus. We have taken a stand on this issue for the national interest and we think that our role will strengthen the government in its talks with India,’ she wrote.
‘We accepted the proposal to send an all-party parliamentary delegation to Tiapimukh on the Indian government’s invitation. We proposed to incorporate technical experts in the team, which was refused. Now a team of the treasury bench in being sent to Tipaimukh,’ she wrote.
The BNP chief on June 22 wrote to the Indian prime minister, Manmohan Singh, apprising him of the people’s concern over the proposed dam.

Courtesy of NewAgebd