Bangladesh govt works overtime against ex-PMs

IN FATIGUE: Former Bangladesh PM with soldiers after she returned to the country.

Other stories in the section:

Khaleda joins bete noire Hasina in prison

Khaleda was at her defiant best inside the court and said she was held in a false case.

• Bangladesh forces arrest ex-PM Zia, son
• Govt wants Zia, Hasina's bank details
• Mandela turns 90, speaks out for the poor
• Khaleda Zia's son temporarily freed from detention

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• Khaleda joins bete noire Hasina in prison
• Bangladesh forces arrest ex-PM Zia, son
• Govt wants Zia, Hasina's bank details
• Mandela turns 90, speaks out for the poor
• Khaleda Zia's son temporarily freed from detention

Keywords: Sheikh Hasina , Khaleda Zia

Dhaka: Bangladesh’s capital is currently agog with rumours that the army-backed interim government is finalising its Minus-II Plan: removing former premiers Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia from public life.

Three bomb blasts in Dhaka University, scores of arrests and a security clampdown in the nation have sparked these rumours that began after the government detained Hasina and Zia. Hasina is accused of extorting more than $400,000 from a company which wanted a permit to build a power station. Zia, who is under house arrest, has to appear before a court next month to answer charges of tax evasion.

Reports from Dhaka say the army is going ahead with the Minus-II Plan to ensure that neither Hasina nor Zia contest elections late next year.

“Hasina could definitely have been given bail but harsh measures are being taken. The people will decide whether is being given a fair trial or victimized,” says Major General (retired) Dipanker Banerji, an international affairs expert.

Nobel laureate Mohammed Yunus has failed to prove himself as an option to the two woman leaders. This means Fakruddin Ahmed, chief of the caretaker government, is left juggling with the same the BNP and the Awami Leaguet and trying hard to restructure them in an manner that a new leadership emerges from within.

New Delhi is concerned about the situation in Bangladesh but is keen on not showing too much sympathy for Hasina, who is supposed to be pro-India. The reaction from India’s External Affairs Ministry has been guarded. “It must be ensured that there is no violation of due process as established by law and that basic individual rights are fully respected,” said Ministry spokesperson Navtej Sarna.