HM Ershad has addressed Parliament through a poem he wrote for a peaceful Bangladesh.
The chief of the Jatiya Party, the main opposition, read out his composition – ‘Our journey begins … want to build our beloved Bangladesh’ – during his concluding speech at the Jatiya Sangsad’s second session on Thursday.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the Leader of the House, smiled and clapped, while the House erupted in applause.
File Photo
Ershad’s wife Raushon Ershad, leader of the Opposition, was, however, not present during his speech.
“Do as you wish, Bangabandhu’s daughter, we will support you,” Ershad told Hasina.
“People want you to provide them peace. They want to sleep in peace and punishment for offenders. Make sure that happens – and you will forever remain in their hearts like Bangabandhu.”
The deposed dictator claimed the party he founded never took to ‘destructive’ politics.
“A helpful environment is needed to implement the budget. It will not be possible if the anarchy started by BNP-Jamaat before the vote continues,” said Ershad.
He said the situation had not wholly improved. “A lot of things can happen in a country so big. These things still happen in Narayanganj and Laxmipur and there is no stop to it.”
Miscreants could only be deterred by strict punishment, said Ershad.
The Awami League’s mistakes had enabled the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami to emerge as ‘poisonous trees’, he added.
Ershad, removed from power through a mass movement 1990, claimed he had stepped down voluntarily.
“I want to bury the past. I let go of power due to the deal struck in 15-party and 7-party movements. But the deal wasn’t respected and I was thrown in jail. Leaders and activists were jailed … we were abused. I can never forget this.”
He claimed BNP and Jamaat would not have been created if Jatiya Party was given ‘equal rights’ during the 1991 election.
Source: Bd news24
