Awami League (AL) joint secretary and information and broadcasting minister Hasan Mahmud on Saturday said Ziaur Rahman was a traitor and he was involved in the assassination of Bangabandhu and his family members, reports BSS.
“But BNP leaders have been constantly denying Zia’s role. They try to make Zia, a villain, into a hero. Ziaur Rahman was basically a murderer and a traitor,” he said, addressing a discussion on National Mourning Day, organized by Chattogram north district AL at city’s Theater Institute this noon.
Urging the BNP leaders to quit the politics of murderers and traitors, Hasan said the mask of Ziaur Rahman will be unveiled before the nation.
Chattogram north district AL president and district council chairman MA Salam presided over the meeting while its vice presidents Abul Kalam Azad, ATM Pearul Islam, Mohiuddin Rashed and other party leaders addressed the function.
“I firmly believe that if a fair political system needs to be introduced in Bangladesh and for this, the history and politics of the country must be cleansed. The politics of war criminals need to be banned too. At the same time, those who underestimated the role of Bangabandhu and try to question Bangabandhu also need to stop their politics in this country. Those who do politics in favour of a murderer and a traitor should not have the right to do politics in the country,” he said.
The minister questioned whether anyone could do politics by downplaying the role of Mahatma Gandhi in India, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah in Pakistan and George Washington in the United States.
“But in our country, even after 50 years of independence, the role of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu is denied,” he added.
He said, “If Bangabandhu was not assassinated on 15 August 1975, Bangladesh would have been a developed and prosperous country within 15 years of independence.”
The minister said that the wheels of country’s progress were pushed back through corruption and misrule after the assassination of Bangabandhu.
“Ziaur Rahman was involved in killing hundreds of officers and soldiers of armed forces after grabbing power and established a reign of ‘killing’ and ‘curfew’ in the country. But, after committing such crimes he could not protect himself,” he said.
Zia had rehabilitated the killers of Bangabandhu at home and abroad and gave them jobs at missions, he added.