The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) has started removing the statements of BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman from all social media, including YouTube and Facebook.
Barrister Khandker Reza-E-Raquib, a counsel for the BTRC, told the High Court (HC) on Tuesday that the organisation has taken the initiative following the HC order regarding the issue.
He said, "A team of the BTRC officials started removing Tarique Rahman's statements from all kinds of social media. Hopefully, it will be possible to remove all the links of Tarique's statements within a few days."
Following a petition, the HC bench of Justice Md Khasruzzaman and Justice Md Khairul Alam asked the BTRC on August 28 to take effective steps to remove the statements of Tarique Rahman from all social media, as he was absconding in the eyes of the law.
The HC decision angered the BNP-backed lawyers. They said they had submitted a petition to the chief justice, expressing no confidence in Justice Md Khasruzzaman. Therefore, he could not deal with the matter. However, overriding their objections, the HC bench passed its order.
Earlier, a lawyer named Nashreen Siddiqua Lina filed the writ petition, seeking directives to remove Tariuqe Rahman's speeches from social media. Following the petition, the HC ordered the government to immediately take steps to stop disseminating the BNP acting chairman's statements in the print, electronic and social media as long as he remained a fugitive.
In the petition, Nashreen said Tarique Rahman, being an accused fugitive, had been making abusive and seditious statements about Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and violating the Constitution. Tarique did not surrender to any court although several arrest warrants were issued against him in different cases.
Along with the petition, she submitted clippings of newspaper reports on Tarique's speeches.
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