Court orders Zia’s arrest over ‘fake birthday’
dhaka — A Bangladesh court on Thursday issued an arrest warrant for the country’s opposition leader after she failed to appear for a hearing over the date of her birthday.
The bizarre controversy, which has been raging for more than a decade, centres on the fact that Khaleda Zia celebrates her birthday on August 15, the day Bangladesh’s former leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated.
He was the father of current Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Zia’s bitter political rival, whose supporters allege that the opposition leader uses a fake birth date.
Many Bangladeshis have no record of their birth dates and millions use fake dates to make them eligible for government jobs with age restrictions.
Magistrate Mazharul Islam delivered the arrest order in a Dhaka court after a pro-government journalist filed a case accusing the twotime prime minister of lying about her birth date.
“The court issued the arrest warrant after she failed to appear in the court over her fake birthday case,” the plaintiff’s lawyer Dulal Mitra said.
Police have now until March 2 to arrest Zia, who has faced two previous warrants in different cases. She is likely to avoid that fate, however, by surrendering to the court and seeking bail.
Zia’s lawyer Sanaullah Mia confirmed the arrest order, and said he would consult her on how to proceed.
Rahman, who was brutally assassinated along with most members of his family in a military coup, is regarded as a hero of Bangladeshi independence and August 15 is a day of mourning.
The coup leaders appointed Zia’s husband the head of the army and he eventually took power in November that year, leading to 15 years of military rule. — AFP