Portraying the opposition leader and her two sons as corrupts, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday sought another term to serve the nation to accomplish the unfinished tasks of her government and thus lead the country towards prosperity.
“The way you’ve achieved peace and development by voting AL to power in the previous election, I’ll urge you to give us another chance to serve the nation by casting your votes for ‘Boat’ in the next election,” she said.
Sheikh Hasina, also the President of the ruling Awami League, was addressing a mammoth public rally at Jhenidah Government High School ground organised by the party’s district unit.
Agriculture Minister Begum Matia Chowdhury, Post and Telecommunications Minister Shahara Khatun, AL joint general secretary Mahbub-ul-Alam Hanif, AL organising secretary BM Mozammel Haque, among others, spoke at the rally held with State Minister for Fisheries and Livestock Adv Abdul Hai in the chair.
Alleging that the birth of BNP is through the politics of murder and killing, Hasina said they had resorted to unbridled plundering of public wealth and played game with the fate of the country’s people to make their own fortunes.
Hasina said taking power by BNP means plundering money, oppression, terrorism, corruption and misrule, nothing else. “They (BNP) don’t want the country’s people to have their fate changed…the BNP chairperson and her two sons had laundered money abroad …they were also found guilty of that, bringing shame on us and tainting the country’s image.”
She alleged that the BNP top leader has amassed black money through corruption, embezzled the fund of the orphanage and also case was filed against her to this end. “But, she (Khaleda) didn’t appear before the court despite knowing her offence.”
“Their (BNP-Jamaat) task is only to nurture terrorists and carry out oppression on our people,” she added.
Holding responsible the BNP-Jamaat-Shibir-Hefajat cadres for maligning the religion of peace ‘Islam’ through burning the copies of holy Quran during the Hefajat’s mayhem on May 5 , the Awami League chief asked her arch rival why she had instigated the BNP-Jamaat-Shibir-Hefajat cadres for burning the copies of Quran.
In this regard, she mentioned that during the rule of BNP-Jamaat, a synchronised bomb attack was carried in 500 places across the country while a Krishak League leader was killed inside a mosque while reciting Quran.
Maintaining her scathing attack on Khaleda Zia, Hasina alleged that her political rival does not want her existence as she wants a Hasina-free Bangladesh.
“She (Khaleda) tried to kill me through her elder son and her cabinet colleagues with a grenade attack on August 21, 2004. But, by the grace of the Almighty Allah, I escaped the carnage that killed 22 AL leaders and workers, including Ivy Rahman,” Sheikh Hasina recalled.
She went on, “Those who burn the copies of holy Quran, set fire to mosques and resort to lies with the picture of Gilaf of Kaba Sharif, how they can protect Islam?”
Noting that her party has ensured peace and security for the country’s people, the Prime Minister said that the people got their rights to speak in Bangla and the independence through casting their votes for AL.
“As people voted for AL, terrorism and militancy have also been removed from the country and they are now living in peace,” she said.
The premier said whenever her party assumed office, Bangladesh rewarded internationally, but the country had turned champions in corruption five times during the rule of BNP-Jamaat. “They (BNP-Jamaat) have snatched food from people’s mouth and siphoned off money abroad.”
Hasina said the people of all faiths, including the Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Buddhists, would live in the country with equal rights and observe their religious festivals with due fervour and festivity. “Islam is a religion of peace and it gives us such lessons. We do believe in that policy and our Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman also taught us that lesson.”
She also claimed that her government in her previous term curbed terrorism and extremisms from the district with an iron hand handling different underground outfits, but after taking power in 2001, BNP-Jamaat again pushed this area into the darkness of killing and terrorism.
Source: UNB Connect
