Prime Minister Tarique Rahman had earlier instructed Mishti to resign as an MP amid allegations of her involvement in the attack,
Special Correspondenct : Ferdousy Ahmed Mishti, a BNP MP elected to a reserved seat for women, has resigned from parliament and her seat has been declared vacant.
The Parliament Secretariat announced her resignation and the vacancy in a notification on Thursday.
The notification said Mishti resigned on Oct 1 and that her seat became vacant the same day under Article 67(2) of the Constitution.
Asked by journalists whether she had resigned, Mishti did not give a direct answer. “The speaker called me. I came to speak to the speaker,” she said.
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman had earlier instructed Mishti to resign as an MP amid allegations of her involvement in the attack, vandalism and looting at the Radda MCH-FP Centre in Dhaka’s Mirpur. Mishti has denied any involvement in the incident.
Attack on Radda Centre
The Radda MCH-FP Centre has been providing free primary healthcare, maternity care and family planning services to poor and disadvantaged mothers and children in Mirpur since 1974.The facility came under attack late on Sept 24.
Around 200 people entered the premises carrying locally made weapons and accompanied by heavy machinery, demolishing a tin-shed structure and three semi-concrete buildings.
Windows and doors of five rooms in the main concrete building, including the ultrasound room, vaccination room and laboratory, were also smashed.
The attackers took away furniture, medicines, an ultrasonography machine, a generator, computers, printers, refrigerators, air conditioners and cupboards, according to the Radda authorities.
They estimate the overall damage at more than Tk 10 million. After the vandalism and looting, the attackers put up a signboard bearing the name “Somomona Dokandar Samabaya Samity Limited” at the site.
A case filed with Shah Ali Police Station names 200-250 people as suspects, including local BNP leader Hanif Mia.
Several other local leaders of the BNP and its affiliated organisations have also been named in connection with the incident. Local sources describe some of them as part of Mishti’s political circle.
Several local BNP figures have also been linked to Somomona Dokandar Samabaya Samity Limited, which is involved in a dispute over the land where the Radda Centre stands.
Mishti herself headed the association in 2006, when she was commissioner of Ward 8 under Shah Ali Police Station.
An application seeking allocation of the Radda Centre’s land to the association was submitted to the housing and public works authorities at the time with Mishti’s signature as president.
Mishti, a former joint convenor of Dhaka North BNP, is the younger sister of late BNP leader Nasiruddin Ahmed Pintu.
Her late husband Saidur Rahman Newton was also involved in BNP politics and served as a ward councillor in Dhaka. Mishti was elected councillor of the same ward after his death.
Following the attack on Radda, Mishti said she was no longer involved with the association and denied any role in the vandalism.
