PM asks opposition not to hamper education thru’ hartals, blockades
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, inset, addresses a rally at the Bhawal Badre Alam Govt College ground in Gazipur yesterday. Photo: BSS
Accusing Khaleda Zia of killing 20 people during the 60-hour countrywide hartal, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday urged the opposition leader not to enforce any agitation programme that could harm students’ academic life.
Addressing a mammoth rally at Bhawal Badre Alam University College in Gazipur, she said the junior school certificate examination will start on Monday when the opposition is going to enforce their next agitation programme.
At the rally venue, she laid the foundation stones of bus rapid transit (BRT) and metro rail projects and inaugurated Sheikh Mujib Safari Park, a fire service and civil defence station at Mawna Chourasta, an upazila complex building in Sreepur, a 52-megawatt dual fuel power plant in Gazipur Sadar upazila, Shaheed Ahsanullah Master Stadium at Tongi and a 250-bed hospital.
She also opened the newly constructed 20-km four-lane Nabinagar-DEPZ-Chandra road for traffic and inaugurated the construction work on the 70-km Gazipur-Chandra-Elenga four-lane project involving Tk 2,788 crore.
About the 60-hour hartal (Oct 27-29) enforced by the BNP-led 18-party opposition alliance, Hasina said, “Had she [Khaleda] responded to my request and sat with me, these 20 people wouldn’t have lost their lives. So, she’s responsible for these killings.”
The opposition leader has gone crazy to save war criminals, who had killed innocent unarmed people, raped women, carried out arson attacks and collaborated with the Pakistan occupation forces during the Liberation War, she complained.
Blasting Khaleda for enforcing hartals frequently, the prime minister said the opposition leader was “shattering country’s economy” with her destructive agitation programmes. “She [Khaleda] had looted the country when she was in power. Now she is destroying the country by enforcing hartals and affecting the academic life of students.”
Terming the young students the future leaders of the country, Hasina, also president of Awami League, said hartal is simply a mindless act to ruin the future of students.
In this connection, she said the opposition leader “hardly wants to allow the people to get educated” as she (Khaleda) is a “non-metric” person.
Giving a brief description about various elections held under the present government, Hasina said all the polls were free, fair and peaceful, and no one could raise any question about any of the elections.
She categorically said the next general election will be held as per constitutional provisions. She urged people to cast their votes for Awami League in the next general election to continue the ongoing development programmes.
About Khaleda Zia’s demand for restoration of the caretaker government system, the premier said the Supreme Court gave its verdict scrapping the system.
Gazipur Awami League organised the rally. AL advisory council members Amir Hossain Amu, Tofail Ahmed, Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury, Communications Minister Obaidul Quader, State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Meher Afroz Chumki, Zahid Ahsan Russell, MP and Simin Hossain Rimi, MP spoke at the rally, among others.
Source: The Daily Star
