GD against Zafrullah for remarks on army chief

A general diary has been filed against Gonoshasthaya Kendra founder Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury over his recent remarks on Army Chief Gen Aziz Ahmed at a TV programme.

Describing the comments as “motivated, malicious and conspiratorial” and the act as tantamount to sedition, Maj M Rakibul Alam of the Army Headquarters filed the GD with Cantonment Police Station on Friday.

Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner (media) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said the Detective Branch of police has already been tasked with the investigation upon approval from the court and the ministry concerned.

According to the GD, Zafrullah at the TV discussion a day before the delivery of the verdicts in the August 21 grenade attack cases irrelevantly made “motivated and conspiratorial” remarks against the army chief which was tantamount to sedition.

“The incident warrants an investigation to find out why and influenced by whom a highly educated man like Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury made such a motivated, fabricated and untrue statement,” it added.

Meanwhile, the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Directorate in a protest notice yesterday said Zafrullah at a press conference on October 13 again “gave false, untrue and misleading information” about the Army chief which was motivated.

In a talk show titled “Sampadokyo” aired on Somoy TV on October 9, Zafrullah said the army chief was the force's Chattogram area GOC when a huge cache of military weapons and ammunitions “went missing, were stolen or sold out” from there, reports BSS.

In a statement issued earlier by the ISPR, the defence force said the comment affected military personnel's morale, the force's solidarity and extremely belittled the army's top position.

“In a different way it misled every serving military personnel and affected negatively their morale. Besides such a misleading campaign harmed the solidarity and unity of a disciplined force like the army which is unexpected,” it reads.

Zafrullah on Saturday apologised for his remarks.

“I carelessly presented wrong information about current Army Chief General Aziz Ahmed during a discussion at Somoy TV's talk show on October 9. I sincerely apologise for the improper statement and wrong choice of words,” he told a press conference.

He said Gen Aziz was neither a GOC of Chittagong Cantonment nor a commandant. “He is an efficient military official.”

Mentioning that Aziz worked as a trainer of artillery at Chittagong Cantonment, Zafrullah said he faced a court of inquiry, not a court martial.