Barrister Mainul Hosein was arrested for slandering a female journalist on live television, not for political reasons, says the ruling Awami League.
“He has been vocal against the government in TV talk-shows before the Jatiya Oikya Front was launched and he was not arrested then. It (the arrest) followed after the court issued a warrant against him,” Law Minister Anisul Huq told the media on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, Mainul was sent to jail after a Dhaka court turned down his bail plea in a case over his remarks defaming journalist Masuda Bhatti during a talk-show.
The case against him was started in Rangpur and a court there issued a warrant against him, police said.
He was detained late on Monday from Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) President ASM Abdur Rab’s home in Dhaka’s Uttara and taken to the Detective Branch offices.
Mainul is one of the sponsors of the Gano Forum chief Dr Kamal Hossain-led new alliance, Jatiya Oikya Front, with the BNP, JSD and Mahmudur Rahman Manna's Nagorik Oikya.
He has been facing intense criticism since Oct 16 when he called journalist Bhatti ‘a woman of loose morals’ in Ekattor Journal, a talk show aired live on Ekattor TV.
“Mainul not only insulted Masuda Bhatti but the entire female community with his remarks and he has been sued for that. A firestorm of anger would have erupted if the law enforcers did not take any steps. That’s why he has been arrested upon the court’s order,” said Huq.
The law minister’s remark came while speaking to the media after attending an event of Bangladesh Political Science Association (BPSA) at Dhaka University.
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader echoed saying Mainul was arrested for what he said not for political affiliation.
Speaking to the media at his offices, Quader, the road transports minister said. “The (political) coalition is not the issue, but what he did. The way he abused a female journalist is an offence.”
According to him, Mainul’s arrest was ‘imminent’ as he has been sued.
“This can happen again if it’s spared ... It (the arrest) has nothing to do with him (Mainul) being a leader of the Oikya Front,” said the senior ruling party leader.
Mainul was in charge of law, justice and parliamentary affairs, among others, during his tenure in the 2007-8 military-backed caretaker government, when Awami League chief, now the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina and BNP chief Khaleda Zia was arrested on graft charges.
A son of The Daily Ittefaq editor late Tofazzal Hossain Manik Mia, Mainul is the publisher and chief of the editorial board of English daily The New Nation.
His brother Anwar Hossain Monju, a minister in the Hasina administration, owns Ittefaq following a 2010 deal among the brothers, who have been involved in a long drawn out rivalry.
The brothers’ battle for the ownership of the prestigious daily had made headlines for years.
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