Pabna, Nov 02 (V7N) – A senior lawyer and government pleader (GP) at Pabna Judge Court has filed a general diary (GD) with Pabna Sadar Police Station against the president of Sujanagar upazila unit of Jatiyatabadi Swechchhasebak Dal, alleging that he posted defamatory and offensive comments about the lawyer on Facebook.
Advocate Md Arshed Alam disclosed the matter at a press conference held at the Pabna Press Club auditorium on Saturday, October 31.
In a written statement, Arshed Alam said the dispute stemmed from a long-running partition suit over land in Bhabanipur mouza of Sujanagar upazila.
He said Shahjahan Ali Sheikh, Motahar Ali Khan and their two sons had filed the case at the Sujanagar Senior Assistant Judge Court against Golam Ali Sheikh, his son Zakir Hossain Sheikh and others. Zakir is the president of the upazila unit of Swechchhasebak Dal.
According to Arshed Alam, while the case was pending, plaintiff No. 1 Shahjahan Ali Sheikh sold him 0.08 acres of land from his purchased share at a mutually agreed price. Arshed Alam subsequently joined the case as plaintiff No. 5. The case remains pending before the court.
Arshed Alam alleged that Zakir Hossain Sheikh had been using his political position and local influence to pressure the other plaintiffs into withdrawing the case. He further alleged that, after failing to achieve this, Zakir posted false, fabricated and offensive comments about him on Facebook on the morning of October 30.
He said the posts had damaged his professional reputation, social standing and personal dignity. Arshed Alam said he filed the GD with Pabna Sadar Police Station on October 30 and strongly protested what he described as a deliberate campaign of defamation.
At the press conference, Arshed Alam also outlined his professional and political background. He said he served as general secretary of Sujanagar upazila BNP for 15 years from 1983 and later held several positions in the district BNP, including legal affairs secretary, joint general secretary and assistant secretary.
He said he had been serving as president of the Pabna district unit of the Jatiyatabadi Ainজীবী Forum for a long time. He added that he was enrolled as a lawyer in 1983 and had provided legal services to litigants at the Pabna Bar Association since then.
Arshed Alam called on senior party leaders to take disciplinary action against Zakir over the alleged Facebook posts.
When contacted, Zakir Hossain Sheikh said the land dispute had been going on for 28 to 29 years. He alleged that Arshed Alam had joined the case alongside the other plaintiffs and had threatened their lawyer to prevent him from appearing on a hearing date.
Zakir acknowledged posting comments on Facebook, saying he had written them in response to the dispute and maintained that everything he had posted was true.
He said he would hold a separate press conference to present his account of the matter and added that he would accept any punishment imposed by the law or his party if any of his statements were proved false.
END/MSR/SMA/
