Information Secretary A T M Fazlul Karim lost his job Monday, a day after he was sued for allegedly defaming the independence leader, Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, through his poetry.
A government announcement on Monday afternoon said Karim would go into retirement immediately.
Known as Abu Karim among poets, the civil servant, who was given the crucial job on Jan 19, was sued by the Awami Ulema League president Mohammad Ilyas Hossain bin Helali on Sunday.
The government gave no reason for his dismissal, but invoked a rule that gave the authorities unlimited powers to terminate civil servants on completion of 25 years in service.
The announcement just said he was being retired since he had 'completed 25 years of service' and "since the government considers it necessary to retire him in the public interest".
A newspaper published excerpts from his allegorical writing in which he allegedly depicted the leader of Bangladesh's independence war and his three sons in a manner deemed defamatory by the religious front of the ruling Awami League.
One of the witnesses named by bin Helali is Amader Shomoy editor Naimul Islam Khan. The paper published the excerpts on Friday.
The issue has since caused quite an uproar, and the youth activists of the ruling party have warned of dire consequences if no action is taken against the civil servant.
The publisher of the book has already closed its outlet at the annual Ekushey Book Fair on the Bangla Academy premises in Dhaka.
Subject: Abu Karim loses job............... 
Mon Feb 23, 2009 2:45 pm
