SHILLONG, Oct 26 - �I don�t care if I am killed,� Bangladesh National Party (BNP) leader, Salahuddin Ahmed today said about his return to Bangladesh after he was finally acquitted of charges by a local Court, which also ordered his immediate repatriation to his country.
The First Class Magistrate DG Kharshiing passed the order this afternoon after the judgment was delayed several times during this year although the hearing was over.
Ahmed was found in Golf Link area in a state of disarray on May 9, 2015. He has all along claimed that he was kidnapped and was blindfolded by unknown men who dumped him in India from Bangladesh.
Thereafter the BNP leader was charged for illegally entering into India and his trial continued after being booked under section 14 of the Foreigner�s Act. He has been out on bail all this while with strict Court directions.
A jubilant Ahmed speaking to The Assam Tribune said he can�t wait to cross over the border and be at home. �I just want to go home and I don�t care what the present Bangladesh Government wants to do with me,� he said at his temporary home for the past three odd years here, when asked if he feared for his life when he returns to his home country.
�I am not sure when the repatriation order would come, but hope it does come before the general election in Bangladesh so that I can participate,� he added.
Criticising the present regime in Bangladesh, he said the ruling Awami League led by Sheikh Hasina has unleashed a reign of terror in the country with its �extra-judicial killings, State sponsored terrorism, political suppression, kidnapping and forced disappearances.�
�Most of our leaders from the BNP are under arrest on whimsical charges framed by the present Government. I have been similarly charged in a lot of cases,� a defiant Ahmed said.
He said the BNP has asked friendly neighbours like India to ensure that democracy survives in Bangladesh and one of the ways is to ensure that a �free and fair elections� is held later this year.
�We have appealed to our friendly neighbours like India to help us ensure that the democratic process is not subverted by the present Government in Bangladesh and the general election is therefore very important,� he said.
