Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina launched a tirade against BNP chief Khaleda Zia on Wednesday and advised her to move to Pakistan.She was criticising her arch political rival over the violence by opposition activists on the Independence Day.
“Your true face has come out. Bangladesh does not have room for those who do not believe in its independence and who try to save collaborators (of Pakisanis) who opposed its freedom”, said the Prime Minister.
“Stop annoying people of Bangladesh. Do not burn them to death. Go to your beloved Pakistan”, she remarked.
“Go there (Pakistan). You will be happy there. Please do not give us more pain.”
The Prime Minister was speaking at a discussion at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.
Khaleda had said at a rally in Joydebpur that Hasina would not even be able to flee the country once she was ousted from power.
Hasina shot back, “She has spoken of my escape. I will remain here. This is my homeland.”
“She was born in India. She does not have any feelings for this country.”
Sheikh Hasina mocked Khaleda by speaking in amateur Urdu to say, “Take the love you have for Pakistan and go there.”
She claimed the opposition chief had an escapist attitude and said, “Why did she escape before the BDR mutiny? Did she know about it before? Where did she hide? … These are my questions.”
Hasina termed the BNP chief “the leader of liberation struggle’s defeated forces”, and said “She knows very well that people of Bangladesh will not vote for her.”
About the BNP Chairperson’s statement on army’s role in maintaining peace, Hasina said, “She (Khaleda Zia) no longer likes democracy. So she is provoking the army. She is fully invested in destroying democracy.”
Hasina warned her, saying, “Do not think this is 1975. Its 2013 and the world has changed a lot.”
Hasina alleged Khaleda was working on some vested quarters’ advice to ‘destroy democracy’. She warned that such conspiracies would not work as the people were more conscious.
The Awami League chief said the opposition leader had again resorted to killing people. “It seems she doesn’t feel good without spilling blood … Her bloodthirsty face has become apparent.”
Hasina also criticised her chief adversary for enforcing March 27-28 shutdowns, saying the BNP claimed that its founder and Khaleda’s husband Ziaur Rahman had proclaimed independence on this day.
“How come you enforced a general strike on that day to save the Jamaat?”
The Prime Minister also flayed the opposition leader’s announcement to try the incumbent government for what she termed ‘genocide’. “It is you who is committing mass murders. If trials are held for mass murders, you’ll be the one to stand trial,” Hasina said.
She mentioned attacks on her party activists after the 2001 national elections. Hasina alleged the BNP-led government had killed her party supporters first in the name of ‘Operation Clean Heart’ and then formed the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) to continue the murders.
The Awami League chief alleged during that period the minorities were not spared.
She alleged Khaleda did not believe in democracy and said, “Her husband (Zia) ascended to bastion of power with the assistance from the army but then started killing fellow officers.” Hasina mentioned the killing of 665 members of the Bangladesh Air Force in 1977.
“We (the government) will do whatever necessary to protect the lives and properties of the people. We want the people’s assistance for it.”
(Source: Agencies)
