Also a lawyer, Huda was expelled from the main opposition party in line with a decision of the top policymaking forum of the party on Sunday night at a meeting chaired by Khaleda. The party said it was compelled to make the harsh decision as the maverick vice chair ignored repeated warnings.
Last year, a similar action was taken against a standing committee member Chowdhury Tanvir Ahmed Siddiky who was accused for violating party discipline.
In a press conference at his Dhanmondi residence on Monday, Huda said, "Speaking against the Noakhali quarter in control of Jatiyatabadi Ainjibi Forum caused my doom. I believe that the quarter manipulated Madam (Khaleda Zia) to expel me."
He expressed hope that the BNP chairperson will withdraw the decision on her own account once she grasps what is going on.
"Moudud is a champion of Noakhali, not the country," he said jokingly, "We have to come away from this kind of regionalism because if it spreads to Dhaka the country won't last long."
Huda expressed his frustration over the current situation in the Supreme Court. "Supreme Court has become a place for political mischief. High Court decreed that there should be no political activities on Supreme Court premises, but politically aligned lawyers refuse to comply. Then how will the court operate independently?"
Huda went on to say that the party chairperson has withdrawn such decisions in the past but he will not urge the party for withdrawing his expulsion.
Huda said he intended to create a new, politically neutral organisation, which he called Independent Lawyers' Forum, and said that his key concern was to build public support for a union between the ruling and opposition party chiefs.
Huda was quite critical of the nation's political culture.
"Arguments over the 'Father of the Nation' and 'Declarer of Independence' take up 60 percent of parliament sessions. These petty squabbles have turned the country into a failure."
The ex-BNP leader reminisced on his arrival in politics under the BNP founder and said, "Ziaur Rahman gave me a lot of respect. I was made a member of the nine-member committee that drafted BNP constitution. I was also the youngest member of the first standing committee and also its member secretary."
Nazmul Huda expressed his gratitude to Khaleda Zia. "She was very generous to me," Huda said referring to his portfolios under the BNP governments. "But she held back from putting me on the standing committee within the party."
The former BNP vice president defended his public criticism of the party stance saying, "Opinions are expressed at the standing committee. However, I was not given a place there. So, I expressed my opinions to the media."
"But I did not disrupt party discipline," he said.
He also expressed hope of running in the next elections for BNP.
"But how will I meet the [Khaleda Zia]? It is hard to arrange a meeting through all her cronies," he said when asked about whether he would be meeting with the party chief in future.
Huda reiterated his stance against BNP's last strike, saying that it had unwise considering that it was a few days before the Eid and had caused a lot of sufferings to the homebound vacationers.
"Madam should have show-caused those who called that strike. But they coaxed her into expelling me."
When asked about his earlier statement about suing the party, he said, "I'm scrutinising the matter. But notices are obligatory before legal actions, I believe."
-bdnews
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