Bangladesh, Dhaka: Yesterday, the former prime minister (PM) of Bangladesh and head of the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party Khaleda Zia was ordered to appear in a court to answer the charge of sedition. The case was filed by Momtaz Uddin Ahmad Mehdi, a lawyer with the Bangladesh Supreme Court and a supporter of the ruling Awami League. He alleged that remarks Ms Zia made last month about the 1971 war were seditious.

Zia had said there were “controversies” over the number of those who were killed. The petitioner said the comment had hurt him “as a patriot” and that as a citizen he had a right to file the case. A group affiliated with the BNP called for a countrywide protest on Tuesday. Ms Zia was ordered to appear in court on March 3. Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, acting secretary general of the BNP, dismissed the case as politically motivated. “This is nothing but a mockery and its aim is to deter Khaleda from politics,” he told reporters.