It is Bangladesh’s season of unsubstantiated allegations flying back and forth across the sharp political divide.
Responding to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s allegation that General Ziaur Rahman was involved in the assassination of her father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Sunday said Hasina was ‘perhaps involved’ in Ziaur Rahman’s assassination.
Speaking at a press briefing at BNP’s Naya Paltan headquarters, Rizvi said Hasina’s claim that Ziaur Rahman was involved in Mujib’s assassination was a ploy to divert the people’s attention away from her autocratic rule.
“The prime minister is lying. President Ziaur Rahman was killed just 13 days after she returned to the country. That day she (Hasina) tried to escape through the country’s border.”
“The people, seeing Awami League’s joy at Ziaur Rahman’s death, have asked if she (Sheikh Hasina) was involved with the others in his killing. The question remains.”
Ziaur Rahman never spoke negatively of Mujib, he said. “It is evident in the speeches he gave in Parliament,” Rizvi told reporters.
“Begum Khaleda Zia never speaks badly of Sheikh Mujib either,” he added.
“The BNP founder was unquestionably involved in the Aug 15 killings,” Hasina said at an event on Saturday to mourn the death of Bangabandhu and other members of her family in the military coup in 1975.
She said Bangabandhu’s self-proclaimed killers Syed Faruk Rahman and Khandker Abdur Rashid admitted to having Zia’s support in an interview to the BBC.
Rizvi in response told reporters that the prime minister will never succeed by telling lies about Ziaur Rahman, who he said ‘announced Bangladesh’s independence’.
“The government has taken away people’s right to vote. Sheikh Hasina is making these allegations to hide these facts. She wants to distract the people.”
“The prime minister said Ziaur Rahman had stopped her from returning home. This is also a lie. She came back with the help of his initiatives.”
BNP acting Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, speaking at a separate event, also retorted to Hasina’s comment and said: “There is so much rumour about Ziaur Rahman. They have no ethics after all.”
Source: bdnews24
