Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Saturday said BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia is conspiring from abroad to destabilise the country through killing foreigners living in Bangladesh.
The Prime Minister said this when newly elected office-bearers of Chittagong, Barisal, Rangpur, Gopalganj and Gazipur Bar Associations met her at her official residence Ganobhaban.
Hasina, also the Awami League chief, said Khaleda killed people in the name of agitation programme when she was in the country. “Now staying abroad, she is killing foreign nationals to create panic among them for tainting the country’s image.”BNP dismissed the remarks of the Prime Minister and other ruling party leaders against Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman to be behind killing of two foreigners in Bangladesh, saying it is an absurd allegation.
She said Khaleda has changed her agitation programme plan. “What’s their new technique? BNP-Jamaat clique engaged lobbyists in various countries, including the European ones, the UK and the USA to spread negative propaganda against the country,” Hasina added.
The Prime Minister urged people to stay alert against Khaleda’s this conspiracy to destabilise the country through killing foreign nations.
Hasina said whenever the country was heading towards development and reached to a dignified position in the world the, the BNP-Jamaat nexus started burning from inside.
“They put in their all-out efforts to tarnish the country’s image and for that they killed people and do whatever needed to materialise their plot,” she said seeking the cooperation of all in foiling the evil design.
Law Minister Anisul Haque, Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque, Awami League Advisory Council member Adv Yusuf Hossain Humayun, AL Law Secretary Adv Abdul Matin Khashru, former chief whip Abul Hasnat Abdullah and Law Secretary Abu Saleh Sk. Md. Zahirul Haque were present.
Earlier, the presidents and general secretaries of the bar associations greeted the Prime Minister by presenting her bouquets.
Referring to the BNP leader’s ‘self-confinement’ at her Gulshan office for long 92 days earlier this year, Hasina said, Khaleda Zia had announced not to return home until the Awami League government was dislodged.
Trying to do that, she said, the BNP leader had begun killing people, throwing petrol bombs, burning bus passengers to death as she did during 2013 in the name of movement to foil the national election.
Turning to the judiciary, the Prime Minister said her government has taken various programmes for the Judiciary, including establishment of Bangladesh Judicial Training Institute, Speedy Trial Tribunal and Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust and formation of Judicial Services Commission. – UNB
BNP dismissed the remarks of the Prime Minister and other ruling party leaders against Khaleda Zia and Tarique Rahman to be behind killing of two foreigners in Bangladesh, saying it is an absurd allegation.
“Our leader Khaleda Zia has been undergoing treatment in London. At this age of technology, the government has all the information about when she (Khaleda) is undergoing eye operation and going to doctor. Despite knowing everything, they’re making bad comments and carrying propaganda,” Bnp’s standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan said.
Japanese citizen Hoshi Kunio was shot dead in Rangpur on October 3, five days after the killing of an Italian citizen Cesare Tavella in Dhaka’s Gulshan area.
Shaheed Jihad Smrity Parishad arranged the discussion at Dhaka Reporters’ Unity marking the 25th death anniversary of Nazir Uddin Jihad who was gunned down in the capital on October 10, 1990 during anti-Ershad movement.
The BNP leader urged the government to ensure the security of the country’s people and foreigners shunning the ‘false’ campaign against BNP.
“No one, even a child in mother’s womb, is now safe in the country. Foreigners are our guests and their assistance is necessary for us. It’s a shame for the nation that we cannot ensure foreigners’ security though they’re coming to our country to take part in our development process,” he deplored.
Voicing concern over media reports that many foreigners and buyers have been cancelling their Bangladesh tours following the killing of Tavella and Kunio, Nazrul said, “It’s now crucial to ensure the security of foreigners and restore their confidence. Or else, our economy will be badly affected and the country will be destabilised. We don’t want to take any advantage of a volatile situation.”
He said BNP wants to realise its political demands through a political movement, not harming the country and its image. – News Desk
