Bangladesh Army dismisses Hasnat’s post as ’extremely laughable and immature stories’:

News Desk :: The Bangladesh Army has denied allegations made by Hasnat Abdullah, chief organiser (South) of National Citizen Party (NCP), claiming he was pressured by senior military officials to accept a so-called “refined” faction of the Awami League, reports Netra News. In a statement shared with Netra News, the army headquarters acknowledged that its chief, General Waker-uz-Zaman, met Hasnat Abdullah on 11 March in Dhaka Cantonment.

However, the army described Abdullah’s assertions as “extremely laughable and an immature array of stories.” The Netra News article published today (23 March) comes two days after Hasnat Abdullah’s Facebook post on an alleged attempt to rehabilitate the fallen Awami League, which involves the cantonment, went viral and sparked protests.

In his post, Hasnat alleged they were offered seat sharings in exchange for accepting a proposal to bring back what was described as a “Refined Awami League,” which he said is “entirely India’s plan.”

Hasnat also posted a short video of an interview where Youth and Sports Adviser Asif Mahmud Shojib Bhuiyan claimed that the army chief was hesitant about the appointment of Muhammad Yunus as the chief adviser of the interim government.

Asif later published the full 17-minute-long interview on his Facebook page. Quoting army statement, Netra News said in its article that the meeting was not “a matter of summoning them and proposing or pressuring them about the rehabilitation of the Awami League.”

Instead, the army said the meeting occurred at the request of Abdullah and another party coordinator, Sarjis Alam, who had long sought a “courtesy meeting” with General Waker-uz-Zaman.

The army further clarified that “Sarjis Alam phoned the Military Adviser to the Army Chief to arrange the meeting and was asked to come to army headquarters.” The pair allegedly waited at Sena Bhaban, where the general met them after completing his official duties.

The Netra News report said it was unable to verify what was discussed during the meeting. The report quoted a senior army officer saying that the initiative originated with Hasnat Abdullah and Sajis Alam. Both men, as well as another NCP leader Nasiruddin Patwari, have since maintained that they do not harbour any animosity towards the army or its leadership.

Whether Hasnat and Sarjis had the consent of the NCP to request the meeting or acted on their own also remains unclear as of now. Patwari publicly criticised Hasnat’s Facebook post at an iftar gathering in Sylhet yesterday (22 March), calling it “lacking courtesy.”