Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina told Parliament on Sunday that conspiracies are on to kill those MPs and AL leaders and workers who are making a stronger footing in their respective areas.She made the remarks taking part in the discussion on a condolence motion on slain MP Manjurul Islam Liton and other distinguished personalities in the House.Reiterating that the killing of an MP like Liton can never be tolerated, the Prime Minister said her government will must hunt down the killers and punish them.”The way we’ve taken a strong position and steps against terrorism and militancy, we’ll surely hunt down those who were involved in the killing and mete out punishment to them,” she.As per the tradition, Speaker Dr Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury adjourned the first sitting of the 14th session for half an hour after adopting the condolence motion to mourn the death of MP Liton.
The Speaker moved the condolence motion, which was passed unanimously by the House to mourn the death of the ruling party MP and former Minister Mostafa Faruk Mohammad, Gano Parishad members Md Abul Hossain and Md Abdul Hakim, former MP Md Zafrul Hasan Farhad and others.Before passing the condolence motion, a number of MPs took part in the discussion on the proposal and recalled the life and works of Liton and others.Parliament also condoled the death of former Iranian President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, Chief Minister of Indian Tamil Nadu J Jayalalithaa, former Chief Justice MM Ruhul Amin, Supreme Court Justice Mohammad Bazlur Rahman Sana, noted anthropologist Dr Helal Uddin Khan Shamsul Arefin and Special Assistant to the Prime Minister Mahbubul Haque Shakil.The House expressed deep shock at the losses of lives in the Russian aircraft crash, bomb blast in Turkey, rooftop collapse in Nigerian church, bomb blast in Cairo, terrorist attack in Paris and other accidents across the world.Hasina, also the Leader of the House, expressed firm resolve that the government will continue its utmost efforts so that the security of people, including MPs, remains intact.Describing Liton’s killing as very much painful for her, she said, “With the death of Liton, the county has lost a promising leadership. His constituency had never witnessed such development in the past.”Recalling Liton’s political background starting from Bangladesh Chhatra League to Sundarganj upazila Awami League President and then MP from Gaibandha-1 constituency within a short period of time due to his prudence and leadership, the Prime Minister said normalcy and comfort returned to people of Sundarganj after Liton became MP as BNP-Jamaat had earlier unleashed terrorism and militancy there.She also alleged that the BNP-Jamaat clique was involved in the killing of many AL leaders and workers, including former Finance Minister Shah AMS Kibria and Ahsanullah Master MP, and in the August 21 grenade attack.Alleging again that the anti-liberation forces were behind Liton’s killing, the Leader of the House said he might have faced the wrath of Jamaat as they wanted to take revenge against AL and the government for the ongoing war crimes trial. “Besides, Liton had also resisted convicted war criminal and former Jamaat Ameer Ghulam Azam from entering his constituency,” she said.Hasina said Liton put up a strong resistance when the BNP-Jamaat unleashed terrorism across the country, including Sundarganj and Palashbari of Gaibandha centring the January-5 polls. “When Bangladesh is moving ahead and gaining a respectable position in the global arena, such incidents are being taken place to hinder the development,” she said.Referring to the alleged shooting of a boy named ‘Sourav’ by the MP in his constituency, the Prime Minister said the fact was that Liton was then ambushed and in his self-defence, he fired in the air and it might have hit the boy.She also criticised the media as they publicised that Liton had intended to kill the boy.Hasina also described as very unfortunate the seizure of the arms of Liton and his wife after the incident and the withdrawal of police from his house although he had expressed his fear that he could be killed anytime.Finance Minister AMA Muhith, Deputy Speaker Fazle Rabbi Miah, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, Chief Whip ASM Feroz, State Minister for Foreign Affairs M Shahriar Alam, State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak, Whip Mahbub Ara Begum Gini, AL MPs Suranjit Sengupta, Jahangir Kabir Nanak and Shamim Osman, and Jatiya Party MP Kazi Firoz Rashid, among others, took part in the discussion on the condolence motion.Suranjit branded Jamaat-Shibir and BNP as the mastermind of the killing, saying BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia is the prime suspect.Terming the BNP chief the ‘leader of the anti-democratic force’, he also demanded that she and her Jamaat-Shibir clique be interrogated.Suranjit also urged the Home Minister to immediately launch a combing operation to arrest the killers of the MP.The other MPs slammed the media, saying they tried to humiliate Liton though he did not open fire at the minor boy, he rather fired blank shots in self-defence.
source:UNB
