Dhaka, Apr 12 – Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday said no one will be able to show Khaleda Zia anything if she keeps her eyes closed. The premier strongly criticised the BNP chief for giving ‘false’ and ‘confusing’ information about her recent India tour.“We’ve brought what we need from them (India) through maintaining friendly relations,” she said while giving her introductory speech at the Awami League Central Working Committee meeting at her official residence Ganobhaban.
The Prime Minister said Bangladesh will procure electricity, gas, LNG and diesel from India.
Under the 3rd line of credit, she said, India will provide Bangladesh US$ 4.5 billion at only 1 percent interest.
Addressing a press conference at her Gulshan office on Wednesday afternoon, the BNP chief described Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s recent India visit as a ‘failed one of giving and not getting anything’ saying she returned home empty-handed.
“The country’s people think the tour is a failed one of only giving and not getting anything. The Prime Minister returned home empty-handed as she was given only assurances,” Khaleda said.
About Khaleda’s claim that she does not know how to place a thing what she wants, Hasina said, “Are we beggars? We’ve attained what we need through the friendly relations.”
She mentioned that no political party is aware like Awami League regarding the country’s independence and sovereignty.
Talking about the anti-dumping clause that imposed by the Indian side, the Prime Minister said India imposed the cause newly on jute items. “I talked to the Indian Prime Minister about this and they assured us of looking into the matter,” she said.
About Khaleda’s allegation that Sheikh Hasina does politics with religion, she said she performs religious rituals and maintains religious rules. “I never do politics with religion; rather BNP and Khaleda Zia do politics with religion,” she said.
Hasina said the BNP is now talking about Teesta and other bilateral issues. “You were in power. Why didn’t you raise the Teesta, LBA, maritime boundary and other issues then?” she questioned.
She said Khaleda, during her tour of India when in power forgot to raise the Ganges water-sharing issue with her Indian side. “She was so much busy sucking India’s foot that she forgot to settle down the issues of maritime boundary and others.”
Regarding the USD 500 million MoU on defence cooperation, the Prime Minister said Bangladesh will procure what it needs from any country of the world. “There’s nothing binding in the MoU. And there’s nothing obscure here,” she added.
About the January-5, 2014 election, she said the country’s people had been with the polls. “Or else, the fate of the AL government would have been the same of BNP where it was overthrown by people after holding the voter-less election in 1996.”
Hasina said AL always does politics for people’s welfare and as a result, Bangladesh is marching forward and it has already graduated to the lower-middle income country. “Insha Allah the trend of this development will continue.”
Prime Minister described various steps taken by her government for the welfare and preaching of Islam, and said it is her government that has given recognition of ‘Dawra Hadith’ as equivalent to Masters.
She hoped that the students of Qawmi madrasas would get huge job and employment opportunities as the government is giving due importance to 14 lakh students of 75,000 Qawmi madrsas across the country. – UNB
