Militancy will return to plague Bangladesh once again if the BNP comes back to power, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has warned voters.
She urged the people on Thursday to vote the Awami League to power at a rally in Rajshahi’s Bagmara, a region which was notorious for militancy 10 years ago.
Hasina said, “BNP will bring back corruption, terror and militancy. The people do not want that. The Awami League will bring with it peace, development and security, so vote for us.”
The Awami League President mentioned 22 victims who died in the hands of militants in Bagmara claiming it was the BNP who had patronised the rise of terrorism there.
“The BNP means terror, corruption and militancy. They turned Bagmara into a bloody battlefield,” Hasina observed.
The Prime Minister addressing the rally beside river Rani asked the nation’s help to continue the development of the country.
“I want your promise, that you will vote for Awami League”
She mentioned the firing on a demonstration for electricity supply at Kanshat during BNP’s term which killed 18 people.
“They can’t supply the people electricity, but they know how to burn down power stations. We have ensured food security, introduced sectors for employment, we distributed free food in Ramadan.”
“We reduced prices of fertilizers, introduced allowances for senior citizens, stipends and scholarships for students and distributed free text books.”
Sheikh Hasina opposed the use of religion in politics saying, “Jamaat-e-Islami and BNP does politics with religion. They have betrayed their religion by claiming the people depicted in the gilaf changing ceremony at the Kaba were demonstrating for the release of Jamaat leaders.”
“Bangabandhu had cancelled licenses for alcohol and gambling after independence. But BNP founder Ziaur Rahman declared martial law to take over power and started giving out licences for alcohol and gambling.”
Awami League in its previous term had started community clinics to provide villages with health facilities but BNP stopped that when it came to power, said Hasina.
Awami League resumed that when it returned to power and started more than 14,000 health centres.
She said she was afraid that BNP will stop students from betting free test books and strip them of their scholarships when they come to power.
Hasina hit out at BNP chief Khaleda Zia, “You let people die in the hands of Jamaat, Shibir and Hifazat, set fire to Baitul Mukarram and copies of the Quran.”
“No other Muslim in the world set fire to so many Qurans. How can those who set fire to the holy book of Islam safeguard it.”
About the eviction drive to remove Hifazat-e Islami from their indefinite sit in at Motijheel on May and subsequent rumours the Prime Minister said, “They say thousands of devout muslims were killed! But they couldn’t give us a list when we asked for it. Then they dramatically reduced their casualty count from 2,500 to 61!”
“People have read reports on what a sham that list was. It is in their nature to fool the people with images of the dead.”
Bagmara on Wednesday was buzzing with the Prime Minister’s arrival, her first visit there. People arrived to join her rally by buses, trucks, vans and even on foot. The rally site was full at noon.
There was a remarkable turnout of women participating the rally.
The Prime Minister visited Bangabandhu Smrity Jadughor Complex as soon as she reached Bagmara.
Source: Bd news24