Dhaka: Bangladesh Parliament on Tuesday passed
a controversial bill to provide lifelong special security to
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her family members, amid
boycott of the House by the opposition BNP.
The bill, `Father of the Nation`s Family Members
Security Act 2009` was unanimously passed by the House,
dominated by the Awami League-led grand alliance.
As per the law, Prime Minister Hasina and Sheikh
Rehana, daughters of Bangladesh`s founder Sheikh Mujibur
Rahman, and their children will be provided lifelong security,
by Special Security Force (SSF), the Daily Star newspaper
reported.
The main opposition BNP, now boycotting parliament,
termed the bill "unprecedented".
The legislation is similar to a law enacted by the
previous Awami League government in 2001 and scrapped by
BNP-led four-party alliance later that year.
Shamsul Haq Tuku, State minister for Home, proposed
the bill, which was passed unanimously by the House in the
presence of Hasina.
The Awami League government has said the law is needed
as Hasina, Rehana and their family members face threats to
their security.
Hasina`s father Sheikh Mujibur along with most of his
immediate family were assassinated in a military putsch on Aug
15, 1975.
Currently, Hasina`s son lives in the United States and
daughter in Canada, and Rehana`s two daughters and a son are
settled in the UK, the report said.
Bureau Report
