Court has proved BNP is a terrorist party: Quader

Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader yesterday said it has now been proved in the country's court that BNP is a terrorist party.

“It's been proved in the courts of Canada and Bangladesh that BNP is a terrorist party,” he said.

Quader, also the road transport and bridges minister, made the remarks while talking to reporters at Naodoba toll plaza in Janjira upazila, during a visit to inspect the under-construction Padma Bridge.

He made the remarks referring to the verdict in the August 21 grenade attack cases sentencing a number of BNP leaders, including acting Chairman Tarique Rahman.

Describing Tarique Rahman as the mastermind of the grenade attack, he said the BNP leader should have been handed death penalty in the cases.

The AL leader also claimed that BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia was involved in the attack, saying she should have been brought under trial.

On Wednesday, a speedy trial tribunal sentenced 19 people to death, 19 others, including Tarique Rahman, to life imprisonment and eight more to different terms of jail in two cases filed over the August 21 grenade attack on an Awami League rally in the capital in 2004.

Earlier, the Canadian Federal Court described BNP as a “terrorist organization” twice -- first in February and again in May -- over a petition seeking political asylum by two of its activists.

The minister said due to inclement weather, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will now visit Munshiganj, Shariatpur and Madaripur on Sunday instead of today, to inaugurate rail connectivity work of the Padma Bridge project.

About the progress of the work on the bridge, he said five spans have already been installed at Janjira end while four to five more will be installed at the Mawa end.