Give graft evidence or seek apology: Eminent citizens to CEC

Thirty-seven eminent citizens have called on the Chief Election Commissioner Nurul Huda to offer an apology before the nation if he cannot prove the graft allegations against Sushashoner Jonno Nagorik (Shujan) Secretary Badiul Alam Majumder within the next seven days.

In a statement, they termed the allegations against Badiul Alam of misappropriating Tk1 crore "hateful".

Apart from graft allegations, Nurul Huda gave a baseless, indecent and hateful speech against Shujan secretary at a programme on 27 January, the statement read.

Terming the allegations "fabricated and motivated", Badiul Alam Majumder has challenged the CEC to prove it.

The eminent citizens in Tuesday's joint statement said, "Badiul Alam has been vocal against election fraud and irregularities during the tenure of every government."

On the other hand, the current Election Commission headed by Nurul Huda not only failed to prevent vote rigging and irregularities in local elections and in the 2018 national polls but also appeared as a partner of the wrongdoers, the statement read.

"Nurul Huda's commission showed extreme irresponsibility by not investigating the serious allegation that the 2018 parliamentary elections were held the night before," they commented.

"We think Nurul Huda is trying to create confusion by bringing allegations against Badiul Alam, Shujan and several prominent citizens of the country to cover up such misdeeds."

They said, "We believe it is necessary for the state to bring a person like the CEC to the book alongside electoral reforms for the sake of restoring integrity and confidence of the voters."  

Those who signed the statement are:  Sirajul Islam Chowdhury, MA Matin, Sultana Kamal, Hafiz Uddin Khan, Rasheda K Chowdhury, Mohiuddin Ahmed, Debapriya Bhattacharya, Hamida Hossain, Ali Imam Majumder, Zafrullah Chowdhury, Shahdeen Malik, Sara Hossain, Subrata Chowdhury, Tabarak Hossain, Asif Nazrul, Syeda Rizwana Hasan, Ali Riaz, Swapan Adnan, Robaet Ferdous, Shahnaz Huda, Shahidul Alam, Shirin Haque, Farida Akhtar, Sanjeev Drong, Nur Khan, Arup Rahi, Rehnuma Ahmed, Nayla Zed Khan, Naser Bakhtiar, Ahmed, Parveen Hasan, Firdaus Azim, Saidia Gulrukh, Saima Khatun, Maidul Islam, Nova Ahmed and Rozina Begum.