PM Hasina warns against ‘conspiracy’ to prove ‘existence’ of international terror groups in Bangladesh

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has warned people against a ‘conspiracy’ to prove the ‘existence’ of international militant groups in Bangladesh.

“Many may want to play a game with the country by claiming that militancy and terrorism exist in Bangladesh,” she said in Parliament on Thursday.

“But I won’t let anyone play the game with the country until I am alive,” she added.

Her comments followed visiting US Assistant Secretary of State Nisha Desai Biswal’s comment that Bangladesh-based militants were gradually establishing links with global terror groups.

Biswal visited Dhaka after Islamic State and al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) claimed responsibilities for several murders and attacks in Bangladesh, including the murder of a USAID official, who advocated for LGBT rights.

The US has been conducting raids through airstrikes or ground troops on several countries with possible existence of Islamic militants.

The government and police have been denying the claims made through internet, saying the home-grown militants are making the claims to confuse investigators.

“There is no place for militancy and terrorism in our soil...Measures we have taken are adequate to suppress terrorism,” the prime minister said in her concluding speech of the session in Parliament.

She condemned killings in the name of religion.

“A Muslim can’t go to heaven by killing a Muslim because Islam is a religion of peace. Islam doesn’t give license to kill,” she said.

Prime Minister Hasina also urged the citizens to remain alerts against militancy. She reminded the landlords to collect tenants’ information in order to curb crimes.
 
“Everyone in the unions, Upazilas, Zilas and cities, please be alert. Do not let your children involve in crime,” she said.
 
She blamed the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami for the rise of militancy. “The country witnesses spike in murders, corruption and crimes when they were in power,” she said.