BNP Standing Committee Member ASM Hannan Shah says that instead of punishing the architects of the 1/11 incident, the Awami League-led government is rewarding them.
“The people who orchestrated 1/11, violated human rights and tyrannised people must be brought to justice,” he said at a programme in the capital on Monday.
“Instead of putting them on trial, the Awami League government has rewarded many of them”, he alleged.
The programme was organised by the BNP-leaning Independence Forum at the Dhaka Reporters Unity on Monday, a day of special significance in Bangladesh’s political history.At the fag end of 2006, when the tenure of the BNP-led four-party alliance government had ended, the then President Iajuddin Ahmed appointed himself as the chief advisor of the caretaker government that was formed to hold general elections.
The Awami League called for a boycott of the elections to protest the appointment.
Iajuddin declared a state of emergency with the help of the army on Jan 11, 2007 to counter the violent confrontations between the two major political parties.
A new caretaker government led by Fakhruddin Ahmed was formed.
The army-controlled government was in power for two years, and both Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia were imprisoned to weaken the two political parties.
Most political parties, including the Awami League, did not organise any programmes to mark the day on Monday, eight years after the incident.
“The 1/11 conspiracy was hatched to prevent fair elections in this country. An attempt was made to tarnish the image of politicians by levelling false charges against them. They succeeded in it to a certain extent,” Shah said at the programme of the Independence Forum.
He stated that 1/11 was a result of the Awami League’s movement, but the former military officer acknowledged that the BNP could not evade partial responsibility for the development.
Hannan Shah claimed that both former dictator and Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad and Lt Gen Masud Uddin Chowdhury played key roles in preparing the “background” for 1/11.
According to Shah, the resignation of four advisers from the Iajuddin Ahmed-led caretaker government was also part of the conspiracy.
“The advisors backed by the Awami League resigned after getting the green signal. But the BNP failed to understand that a crisis was brewing and that a conspiracy was being hatched. But I had anticipated it,” he said.
The BNP leader further claimed that a “special intelligence force” was behind the Paltan violence on Oct 28, 2006, the last day of the four-party alliance government’s tenure.
“All these were part of a conspiracy. A decision had been taken to deploy the army even before 1/11. The president had consented to the decision, but he immediately scrapped the decision after being pressured.
“The BNP should have insisted on deploying the army considering the terrible situation in the country, but our party did not react, and that encouraged the Awami League. The people who hatched the conspiracy from within and from outside the country were encouraged, and they finalised the date—January 11.”
Shah, who was put in prison after Fakhruddin Ahmed formed the government, claimed that the arrest of some of the Awami League leaders was an ‘eyewash.’
The retired brigadier claimed he knew where in the cantonment, and where outside the cantonment, the conspiracy was formulated.
“A major political party was behind it. You all know which party that is,” he said.
“I want to firmly say that today or tomorrow the people responsible for 1/11 must be brought to justice. I request young BNP leaders to make sure that those people are brought to justice one day,” he said.
The army officer-turned politician also recalled the situation he faced during the state of emergency.
He said he had approached Awami League and Jamaat leaders, but in vain. “At that time I even wondered what was the point of living. There was darkness all around.”
Referring to his meeting with Khaleda Zia at her house in Dhaka cantonment, he said, “At one point of our discussions, she remarked, ‘I heard the people don’t want me; the party does not want me.’ I told her those were all lies.”
“Who told you all this?” he had asked her, according to Shah.
“She said some DGFI officials told her that the people no longer wanted her and so she should leave the country. She had prepared to leave accordingly. Her suitcases were packed. It hurt me. After all she is my leader, the wife of President Zia.”
“Lastly I asked her, ‘What have you decided?’ And she replied “Who likes to leave behind a family of 45 years and go away?”
“That gave me hope. I told madam, ‘I understand your state of mind. Let me convey your feelings to the party leaders and activists and to the people of the country.’- bdnews24.com
