BNP lawmaker Ferdousi Ahmed Mishti has been asked to resign from parliament as the party moves to take action over the attack and demolition of the RADDA MCH-FP Centre in Mirpur-1.
Atikur Rahman Rumon, additional press secretary to Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, told Waadaa that Mishti has now been asked to resign from her parliamentary seat.
Several party leaders, including senior figures, had urged the BNP’s top leadership to take punitive measures against anyone found linked to the incident, including Mishti, whose name has surfaced in allegations surrounding the attack.
Earlier in the morning, a BNP lawmaker, requesting anonymity, said s/he had also heard that Mishti would be asked to step down “for sure.”
“I have heard that she will be asked to resign,” s/he told Daily Waadaa. “But this is a decision that has to come from the top. I am not aware of any final decision.”
Mishti is the younger sister of the late Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu, a former BNP lawmaker and former president of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal. Her late husband, Sayeedur Rahman Newton, was a former Dhaka City Corporation ward councillor and BNP leader who was killed in 2002.
The pressure follows the overnight attack on the nearly 50-year-old RADDA MCH-FP Centre on September 25.
More than 200 people allegedly stormed the premises, restrained security guards, looted medicines and medical equipment, and brought in heavy machinery to demolish the facility.
Mishti’s name subsequently surfaced in allegations made by local residents, political figures and BNP activists over links to the takeover. The allegations have not been established by investigators, and Mishti has denied involvement.
Mishti had previously been associated with Somomona Dokandar Samabay Samity Limited, the cooperative whose signboard was put up on the property after the demolition. Records cited by media reports show that she served as its president between 2002 and 2006.
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed said Wednesday that investigators were examining the alleged involvement of a lawmaker and that no one would be spared if the allegation was substantiated. He did not name Mishti.
Police have so far arrested 12 people in connection with the attack. The officer-in-charge of Shah Ali Police Station has also been withdrawn, with departmental action under way over the police response to the incident.
The BNP and its affiliated organisations have also dissolved three Dhaka committees and expelled 14 leaders over what the party described as indiscipline, anti-organisational activities and unethical conduct. The party did not explicitly link those actions to the RADDA incident.
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