TARIQUE’S CITIZENSHIP Legal notice served as Shahrier sticks to statement

State minister for foreign affairs M Shahriar Alam claimed again on Monday that Tarique Rahman and his wife and daughter deposited their passports to the British Home Office as Tarique served a legal notice on the minister.
Bangladesh Nationalist Party acting chairman Tarique Rahman on Monday served the legal notice as the state minister made a similar statement a day earlier saying that Tarique renounced his Bangladeshi citizenship by depositing the passport.
Tarique ‘never renounced’ his Bangladeshi citizenship, his lawyer Kayser Kamal said in the notice. 
The legal notice asked the state minister to either prove the allegation that Tarique renounced his passport or offer an unconditional apology to him in 10 days.
The legal notice also said that appropriate legal actions would be taken against Shahriar if he failed to go by it.
The legal notice was also served on Kalerkhantho editor Emdadul Haque Milon and Bangladesh Protidin editor Nayeem Nizam for publishing the ‘false’ news without verification. 
The legal notice also asked the two editors to prove the allegation or to withdraw the ‘false’ news published in the online newspaper kalerkantho.com and Bangladesh Protidin and offer an unconditional apology.
State minister for foreign affairs M Shahriar Alam claimed that Tarique Rahman, his spouse Dr Zubaida Rahman and their daughter Zaima Rahman deposited their passports to the British Home Office. ‘As a political person, I think, it is refusal of nationality,’ he said at a briefing in Dhaka on Monday. 
He added that he would face the legal notice, if served, legally. 
Foreign secretary M Shahidul Haque informed the High Court in 2015 that the High Commission kept in its custody the passports of Tarique, his wife and daughter after the UK Border Agency ‘returned’ those passports to the Bangladesh Mission on June 2, 2014 as they had expired.
On behalf of Tarique, Kayser Kamal, also BNP law affairs secretary, served the legal notice on the state minister and the editors. 
The notice said that in a reception programme of prime minister Shiekh Hasina on April 21 organised by London Awami League, the state minister for foreign affairs Shahriar Alam, said that Tarique renounced his Bangladeshi citizenship by handing over his passport to Bangladesh High Commission in London.
Bangladeshi newspaper Kalerkantho’s online version kalerkantho.com and Bangladesh Protidin published news on April 22 and 23 based on the statement, the lawyer wrote.
Earlier on Monday morning, BNP senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi at a briefing at the party central office termed the statement lie.
Tarique has been staying in London since September 2008.
The BNP leader said those whose children took foreign citizenship marrying foreigners had surrendered passport.
He said that none of Zia family married foreigner and did not take citizenship of any country.

News Courtesy: www.newagebd.net