Legal action initiated over attack on Badhan in Italy: PM's adviser
In a Facebook livestream early today, Badhan said she was at a park with her brother and his family when a group of Bengali expatriates confronted and physically harassed her, throwing water and Coke at her.
Prime Minister's Information and Broadcasting Adviser Zahed Ur Rahman has said legal proceedings have been initiated in Italy over an attack on actress Azmeri Haque Badhan, stressing that the government will not allow the incident to go unpunished.
"We certainly will not let this go. This cannot be allowed to go unaddressed in any way," he said today (8 September) in response to questions from journalists about the attack in Italy at a press conference held at the Secretariat to brief the media on the government's activities, reports Prothom Alo.
Zahed remarked that Badhan should regard the attack as a form of achievement and recognition, arguing that being targeted by the activities-banned Awami League, which he described as a "mafia gang," is evidence that she is on the right path.
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He continued, "I feel like saying that those who carried out the attack should perhaps even be thanked, because they have shown what the Awami League is, who its members are, and what the Awami League represents."
Zahed said he does not consider the Awami League a political party. "It is a mafia gang. The very fact that I am calling it a mafia gang and this attack is evidence of that."
He questioned whether the Awami League should be regarded as a political party with political rights and whether it should be allowed to engage in politics in Bangladesh.
"What happened to Azmeri Haque Badhan, I believe, raises the question of whether an organisation that behaves in this manner should at all be treated as a political party and be allowed to conduct politics on our soil," he said.
Addressing ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina, the adviser said, "After everything you have done, if you had even the slightest sense of remorse and genuinely intended to return to politics, these acts of violence would not have taken place."
Earlier, Bangladeshi actress Azmeri Haque Badhan alleged that she and her family were attacked and harassed by expatriate Bangladeshis she identified as Awami League supporters in Mestre, Italy.
In a Facebook livestream early today, Badhan said she was at a park with her brother and his family when a group of Bengali expatriates confronted and physically harassed her, throwing water and Coke at her.
