Hasina warns Khaleda against bloodshed

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday warned the opposition BNP that her government will not allow any bloodshed the opposition is causing in the name of street agitation.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 18 March 2013, 06:43 AM
Updated : 18 March 2013, 10:12 AM

She sounded the stern warning as she addressed a rally at the capital’s Suhrawardy Udyan, in response to a recent statement by BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia.

Speaking at a gathering at Singair in Manikganj on Saturday Khaleda said: “There is no point of having any talks with this killer government. Some more lives will possibly be lost in the process to push them out.

The Awami League President slated the Opposition Leader also for her remarks against the demonstrators of Shahbagh, who are seeking death to the war criminals.

Hasina also urged the people to assist the newly formed terrorist prevention committees at each district to resist violence being unleashed by the Jamaat-e-Islami over the war crimes trials.

The rally kicked off at around 3pm amid the shutdown sponsored by the opposition demanding release of their leaders.

Hundreds of Awami League supporters joined the rally, which is being seen as a show of strength after the nationwide violence by the Jamaat in successive recent strikes.

The rally is apparently also aimed at countering the BNP which is trying to revive the movement for restoration of the caretaker government provision to supervise parliamentary elections.

The momentum for the rally had been building up since the celebration of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's birthday on Sunday.

Hasina told the rally: “Leader of the Opposition Khaleda Zia desires to return to power through bloodshed.”

The Prime Minister wondered how a two-time former Prime Minister could seek the blood of the people.

“How many more lives will you take to protect war criminals?” she posed a question to Khaleda.

“It’s their (BNP) character to spill people’s blood. They want to ride to power destroying Bangladesh.”

“Shall the people vote such bloodsuckers to power?” Hasina asked.

She said the Awami League would not allow anyone to practise the politics that thrives on bloodshed.

“We (government) are determined to take actions against those trying to kill people.”

The Prime Minister also came down hard on Khaleda for her remarks that United Nations might stop taking police personnel as peacekeepers following the causalities in the recent countrywide violence.

“Why she (Khaleda) is so angry with police. She has asked the UN to stop taking police personnel as peacekeepers.”

She said around 7,600 policemen served as UN peacekeepers during her government while the number was just more than 400 during the term of last BNP-led government.

Hasina also slated Khaleda for terming the youths demonstrating at Shahbagh ‘atheists’.

“How can a Muslim call another an atheist? She has lost faith in Allah,” she added.

Taking a dig at the BNP chief’s piety, the Awami League chief said: “Everyone knows who practises the religion and how much. We were in nearby rooms in jail. I know everything. But I’d rather not speak about it.”

Hasina and Khaleda were both detained in a special jail in the parliament complex by the 2007-8 army-backed caretaker government on a slew of corruption charges.

The Prime Minister alleged that Khaleda did not like that the new generation, imbued with the spirit of the Liberation War, rising to demand justice for war crimes.

“Our young generation is vocal against that Jamaat-e-Islami which did not want our independence,” she added.

The Awami League chief said Khaleda came back ‘mentally ill’ from Singapore where she recovered physically after treatment only to become vocal for Jamaat.

“Jamaat is a name-only Islamist party. Everyone knows what their actions are. Don’t pay any heed to BNP-Jamaat propaganda,” she told the people and urged them to foil conspiracy aimed at thwarting the ongoing trials of the suspected war criminals.

Hasina asked her party leaders to include Ulama Mashayekh and Alem (Islamic scholars) in the terrorist prevention committees.