Nation purged of a curse: PM

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has accused the BNP of being a pro-war criminals party and said its not joining general elections has ‘purged’ the country of a curse.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 18 Dec 2013, 06:47 PM
Updated : 18 Dec 2013, 06:47 PM

She made the scathing remark at a meeting of the ruling Awami League-led alliance held amid countrywide protest against the resolution passed in Pakistan’s Parliament expressing concern over the hanging of war criminal Abdul Quader Molla.

The BNP-led Opposition has announced a boycott of the Jan 5 polls.

"We have tried and even made concessions to bring BNP to the polls, but they didn't." Hasina said at the meeting held at Ganabhaban on Wednesday.

"It doesn't matter if they (the Opposition) come. I believe the country has been purged of a curse," she said, hinting at Abdul Quader Molla's execution and his party Jamaat-e-Islami's alliance with the BNP.

Hasina said it would be the first time when the 'defeated forces' would not contest the polls. "The country has been relieved of the stigma of war criminals' rule," continued the President of the ruling Awami League.

She claimed the BNP was staying away from the polls as its ally Jamaat could not contest the polls after the High Court had cancelled its registration.

Nearly 100 people have so far been killed in the Opposition's ongoing agitations to press for a non-party government's supervision in the polls and suspending the election schedule.

The Prime Minister urged the Opposition to stop enforcing violent protests and urged the people to resist such movements.

"The people of Bangladesh will not sit back," she warned.

Referring to attacks on Awami League leaders, she said: "They cannot expect us to remain a silent spectator when our men are slaughtered and their houses are torched."

She said those who were unleashing the spate of violence should not forget that they too have their families, houses, businesses in the country.

Hasina also reminded the Opposition that families of the marauding Pakistanis were not in Bangladesh during the Liberation War and urged the people to resist those who had launched agitations to shield the war criminals.

The Prime Minister said her government was working to ensure that elections be held in accordance with the Constitution to keep the democratic practices uninterrupted.

She alleged the Opposition did not want democracy to flourish in Bangladesh.

About dialogues with the BNP, she said the Opposition had denied holding any meetings even after the parleys.

"The BNP stayed away from the elections even after the intervention of the UN. But we want to uphold the constitutional practices.

"Our aim is to reinforce democracy," said the Prime Minister.