Dhaka could now be compared with any int’l city for beauty, Hasina claims
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina addresses a rally at Suhrawardi Udyan on Friday commemorating the 38th anniversary of August 15, the day of brutal killing of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
In a blistering attack on the opposition leader, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Friday said everything from head to toe of Khaleda Zia is fake and she has the chance to be blown off by wind.
“The opposition leader makes derogatory comment that my hair will be blown off by the wind of movement. I wear veil, so I can’t show her my hair. I don’t wear wig and what I’ve is real and not fake. As everything of her (Khaleda) from head to toe is fake, she has a chance to be blown off by wind. I’ve no such fear,” she said.
Hasina was addressing a mammoth public rally at the historic Suhrawardi Udyan in the capital, organised by Dhaka city unit of ruling Awami League marking the National Mourning Day. Acting president of Dhaka City AL MA Aziz presided over the meeting.
Mentioning that the only goal of her life is to ensure the rights of people and turn Bangladesh into ‘Sonar Bangla’, Hasina sought the support of countrymen and also of the voters of the capital for her party to serve the nation for another term to continue the pace of development.
“I seek another opportunity, seek vote for ‘Boat’ so that the pace of development continues, I seek cooperation from the countrymen as well as of the city dwellers,” said Hasina, who heads the AL.
Listing various development activities implemented in the capital, Hasina sought votes for her party in the next election to build Bangladesh as a country free from militancy, terrorism and corruption.
“We want Bangladesh to be built in line with the spirit of the War of Independence… we’ll turn Bangladesh into a developed and prosperous nation by 2021,” she said.
Turning to the war crimes trial, the prime minister said that holding the trial of the war criminals was one of the election pledges of the present government. “The countrymen started getting verdicts one after another. Insha-Allah, this trial will be completed,”
Again accusing the opposition leader of her bid to save the war criminals, she said that when the whole nation was sincerely expecting the trial, Khaleda Zia had given a 48-hour ultimatum along with Jamaat-Shibir men and Hefajat-e Islam.
Referring to the claim of the opposition and the Hefajat men that thousands of people were killed during their Dhaka siege programme on May 5, Hasina said when the government sought the list of those killed, the alleged death toll came down to 61 from 2,500.
She said that according to the report of a national daily on Thursday, even the list of 61 was fake. “Those who could cheat with the corpses, is there anything that they couldn’t do?”
“The BNP-Jamaat-Hefajat understands well the ‘politics of killing’ and they only could give corruption, terrorism and militancy to the country,” she added.
Criticizing Khaleda Zia for holding her 10-bigha cantonment house for long apart from her 1.5-bigha Gulshan residence, Hasina said that the opposition leader had to leave her cantonment house following a court verdict and everyone came to know about ‘her luxurious life’ just after she left the house.
“The opposition leader did not cry as much after the killing of her husband in 1981, that she did after losing her cantonment house,” she said.
Extending her sincere thanks to the Dhaka city dwellers for raising some 25 lakh signatures that have forced to some extent the caretaker government after 1/11 to give elections, the prime minister said she has established good governance and wants overall welfare of the countrymen.
“Those who could burn holy Quran, set fire to mosques and try to save the war criminals, they don’t want the welfare of people.”
In a scathing attack on the BNP-Jamaat alliance for their “unbridled” corruption, she again alleged that the opposition leader had gone twice to Singapore to save Koko’s money.
The AL president said that the present government for the first time in the history of Bangladesh had brought back that siphoned off money from Singapore which would be spent for people’s welfare. “This is a success of the government… what would she (Khaleda) say now?”
She said that as the countrymen had voted for Awami League in the last general election, the present government “restored democratic system” and also implemented massive development activities in the capital including flyovers.
The prime minister said Dhaka could now be compared with any other international cities due to enhancing of its beauty through various projects like Hatirjheel alongside reduction of traffic congestion.
She also highlighted various successes of the present government including in health, education, food security and communication.
Source: The Daily Star