Bangladesh's main opposition BNP has expelled its vice chairman Nazmul Huda, days after he criticised a nationwide protest call by the party against the eviction of its chief Khaleda Zia from her posh cantonment residence.
"He (Huda) has violated the party's discipline giving statements against the party despite repeated warnings," BNP's office secretary Rizvi Ahmed told reporters last night after emerging from a meeting of the BNP standing committee with Zia in the chair.
The committee, Mr Rizvi said, decided to remove Mr Huda from the party's primary membership and added that secretary general Khondker Delwar Hossain has already signed the letter of his expulsion.
"Mr Huda was warned to follow the organisational conduct and refrain from the anti-party activities—His activities have created discontent among the party activists and confused the people," Mr Rizvi said quoting the expulsion order.
In an instant reaction, a defiant Mr Huda dismissed his expulsion as a "violation of the party rule", saying he would challenge the decision in court.
"How can you give such a big punishment for speaking up?" he told a private television channel.
A former minister in Ms Zia's past BNP-led four-party coalition government, Mr Huda on Friday said the countrywide strike largely appeared ineffective as it was called only to protest Ms Zia's eviction from the house while the "debacle" was caused because of the "mishandling" of the case by "learned lawyers".
Mr Huda said despite the inclination of Ms Zia's lawyers to BNP, he feared some of them could have been led by any "vested interest" in conducting her legal battle to retain the house allotted to her under a lease agreement 29 years ago.
"You know one of them (lawyers) is known for his controversial political past as he sided with different rulers at different times," he said in an apparent reference to former law minister Moudud Ahmed, one of Ms Zia's key counsels.
Mr Huda, who faced a raft of corruption charges during the past military backed interim government under emergency rules, said Ms Zia was forced to quit the house as her counsels did not seek an apex court stay on the high court verdict ordering her to vacate the massive mansion last month.
Mr Huda's expulsion validated wide media speculation that a tough party action awaited him for his comments as he had already angered Ms Zia by resigning from the pro-BNP lawyers' forum two months ago after the organisation's president and general secretary were handpicked by the party chief instead of allowing any election for its committee.