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Khaleda's Meeting with Govt Officials

March plan was on agenda

BNP officially denies, privately admits; govt warns of legal action

Hasan Jahid Tusher and Rashidul Hasan
The public officials who met BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia on Thursday night assured her of support from the Bangladesh Secretariat for an "upcoming" anti-government movement.
Convinced that the government will hold a general election in March under national and international pressure, the BNP is preparing for an all-out movement targeting the month, party insiders said.
It wants to mobilise pro-BNP officials and employees to turn the screw on the government. It even plans to have the movement centred on the Secretariat, the country's administrative hub, they added.
Some BNP leaders believe movements involving public servants like what the Awami League did in 1996 by forming the Janatar Mancha (people's platform) would be more effective than street agitation.
"Thursday's meeting between the BNP chief and some aggrieved government officials was part of
that plan," said a BNP leader preferring anonymity.
The media was not allowed in the meeting, but the matter leaked out, putting the party high-ups in an unpleasant situation. The same night Khaleda held a separate meeting with some ex-army officials leaning towards BNP, sources said.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday warned of action against the public officials who would be found to have participated in the meeting.
"If any government official has violated law by attending the meeting, legal action will be taken," she told a press conference at her Gono Bhaban residence. "Law will take its own course. ”
The public administration ministry said it would probe the reported meeting and decide on punishments that may include withholding of promotion, salary slash or forced retirement.
"The government won't take this lightly. It is a matter of discipline within the service," said State Minister for Public Administration IsmatAra.
As per the Government Servants (Discipline and Appeal) Rules, 1985, public servants cannot hold meetings with political leaders.
Over 50 public servants attended the meeting at Khaleda's Gulshan office onThursday, sources said.
They included a joint secretary, three deputy secretaries and a senior assistant secretary - all officers on special duty (OSD) - and some personal officers (PO) and administrative
officers (AO).
Secretariat sources said a few former secretaries, including an ex-cabinet secretary, who are under the government's watch, led the group.
The Daily Star got nearly a dozen names, but it refrains from publishing those without verification.
BNP Chairperson's Press Secretary Maruf Kamal Khan told The Daily Star on Thursday night that some 150 serving and former officials were present at the meeting.
Sources said senior BNP leaders, including Fakhrul Islam Alamgir,
Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury, Sabih Uddin Ahmed, and Maj Gen (retd) Fazle Elahi Akbar, defence adviser to the BNP chief, were at the Gulshan office at the time.
Fakhrul, acting secretary general of BNP, denies reports of any such meeting.
Back in 2006, some 15 serving public officials who were known to be close to the BNP attended a secret meeting at an office of former energy adviser Mahmudur Rahman on the night of November 24, triggering a huge uproar.