Hasina blames BNP chief Khaleda for killing of foreigners in Bangladesh

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has blamed the recent killings of two foreigners in Bangladesh on BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 10 Oct 2015, 11:16 AM
Updated : 11 Oct 2015, 04:11 AM

She said Khaleda was looking to spread ‘panic’ by orchestrating these murders.

“When she (Khaleda) was at home, she killed her countrymen. Now , she is plotting to create instability [in Bangladesh],” Hasina said at an interaction in Dhaka on Saturday.

The prime minister was referring to the death of more than 100 people in arson and bombings during the BNP-led alliance’s three-month agitation early this year.

Hasina continued: “Your lobbyists abroad are spreading canards in Europe, US and UK [against Bangladesh]. The BNP-Jamaat alliance has huge funding.

“They are tarnishing the country’s image from abroad by killing foreigners living in Bangladesh and creating panic.”

Italian Cesare Tavella was shot to death at Dhaka’s diplomatic zone on Sept 28 while Japanese Kunio Hoshi was killed in the same way five days later in Rangpur.

Hasina had earlier blamed the BNP-Jamaat alliance for the killings.

Khaleda is currently in the UK for medical check-up. Her elder son Tarique Rahman, accused of trying to kill Hasina in 2004, has been living in London since 2008.

On Saturday, Hasina said the BNP had changed its tactic after failing to prevent the national election. “It (the killing of foreigners) is her (Khaleda) new tactic.”

The BNP-led alliance sat out the 2014 national polls and failed to stop the election.

Khaleda’s party has been calling the government “illegal” and demanding a snap election but the government insists that the next election will be held at the end of the current government’s tenure.

“Her (Khaleda) response is by killing the foreigners living in Bangladesh,” the prime minister alleged.