Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday strongly hit back at opposition leader Khaleda Zia for her disparaging remarks about Gopalganj, the home district of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
“Nobody can erase the name of Gopalganj from the world, rather those who will try to do that will vanish; this is the reality,” she said, addressing a workers conference on the premises of her in laws’ house, ‘Joy Sadan’, at Fatehpur here.
On December 29, opposition leader Khaleda Zia in a sudden outburst towards some police personnel who were on special security duty outside her Gulshan residence, saying “where are you from, Gopali? Gopalganj? The name Gopalganj will be changed… Gopalganj won’t exist”.
Talking about the offensive attitude of opposition leader Khaleda Zia about Gopalganj, the Awami League President said it seemed to her that the opposition leader is very angry with the particular district.
She said Gopalganj is the home district of the Father of the Nation and he is now lying at eternal rest on the sacred soil of the district. “It’s the home district of the person who presented the nation an independent country after a long struggle. That’s why she (Khaleda) does not like Gopalganj since she does not love independent Bangladesh.”
She further said that Bangabandhu is the person who made Major Zia a major general. “It’s Bangabandhu because of whom you (Khaleda) remained the wife of Zia.”
Questioning the reasons of the opposition leader’s outburst at Gopalganj, Hasina said: “She (Khaleda) is angry since she failed to kill her (Hasina) in the August 21 grenade attack. “How could she (Khaleda) prove she was not involved in the August 21 grenade attack that killed more than 23 AL activists including Ivy Rahman?”
Alleging that the opposition leader is angry at Gopalganj since her beloved Pakistan does no longer exist here, the Awami League chief said: “She (Khaleda) never wanted independent Bangladesh… she is now engaged with Jamaat for the movement, Jamaat is the center of her all power.”
“That Jamaat won’t be able to participate in the election now as per the High Court verdict is her sorrow. This is the reason the opposition leader is against holding the (January 5) election.”
Recalling her efforts to bring the opposition leader to the dialogue table, Hasina said: “Whenever I called her (Khaleda) for dialogue she came up with an ultimatum. In the future we all will see who will stay in Bangladesh and who will flee away from here.”
She alleged that all the agitation and movement of the opposition leader is just to save the war criminals, nothing else.
Talking about the BDR mutiny, the Prime Minister said that in the recent times, the international media have revealed who was involved in the conspiracy. “It is the ISI which was involved in the heinous killing of 57 army officers (in the mutiny).”
Recalling the incidents during the BDR mutiny, she said that the opposition leader on February 25 early morning “left her cantonment house to an unknown destination without taking along her government protocol.”
“She (Khaleda Zia) is not an early riser, but on that particular day she woke up from bed very early and went away from her house. She did not return to her cantonment house for more than one month. It means she knew about the killing of the army officers.”
Hasina mentioned that during the trial of the BDR mutiny the pro-BNP and Jamaat lawyers provided the legal assistance to the accused.
About BNP leader Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury, she said: “This is the person who took care of the killers of Bangabandhu after Zia sent them abroad.”
The Awami League chief alleged that the opposition leader, like her husband, loves to play with dead body and blood.
About the upcoming general election, she said the opposition leader “never opts for the path of discussion and dialogue, rather it is her nature to go for destructive activities.”
Referring to the AL election manifesto released a couple of days back, she said that in the manifesto it was stated that Bangladesh will be a developed country by 2041. “We know we can do that as we always work for the welfare of the country and its people.”
In her speech, Hasina also highlighted the development activities of the Awami League-led Grand Alliance government in the last five years.
President of Pirganj Upazila Awami League Motaharul Huq Bablu presided over the workers conference.
Source: UNB Connect