Hasina says she does not care about conspiracies

As Awami League leaders sniff conspiracies against the current government like those in 1975, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina says she is unshaken by the plots and not losing sight of the goals.

“I don't care about conspiracies no matter what... Only Allah can give and take life. I never bowed to anybody except Allah and never will,” she told a discussion at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre on Sunday.

Awami League organised the discussion to mark the National Mourning Day.

Bangladesh mourns founding father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman who was assassinated with most members of his family on Aug 15, 1975.

His daughters Hasina and Sheikh Rehana escaped the carnage since they were abroad.

Awami League leaders, including General Secretary Syed Ashraful Islam, said in several programmes before and after the National Mourning Day that there were similar plots against the government of Bangabandhu’s daughter Hasina.

Rival BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has reportedly told a meeting with allies that the government would not last more than two months. 
 
Awami League leaders have termed it a conspiracy.

Hasina on Sunday said her government was working on building a developed and secular Bangladesh on Sheikh Mujib’s ideal.

She said she was ready to make any sacrifices for that to happen.

"We’ll have to change the fate of the Bengalis. We’ll have to protect the ideal of Bangabandhu by making sacrifices," she said.

She praised the Awami League activists for their courageous role after the assassination of Sheikh Mujib and said she always had faith in them.

“Awami League members never make any mistake. They take the right decision at the right time and are always with the party,” the Awami League president remarked.

Speaking about the time when her father and other family members were killed, she said, “We became destitute, broke in a matter of a day. We didn’t know where to go. My father didn’t steal and stash away money.”

“We were helpless. Ms Indira Gandhi (the then prime minister of India) provided us political shelter,” she said.

“We faced many problems, but never bowed to anyone,” she said.

The prime minister also said she could not even enter the house at Dhanmondi 32, where Bangabandhu was killed, when she returned to Bangladesh on Apr 17, 1981.
Because the then president Ziaur Rahman did not permit, she added.

“I had to offer prayers for my parents sitting in the street,” she said.

The Awami League chief also spoke about how Bangabandhu’s self-proclaimed killers were protected and rehabilitated.

She slated BNP chief Khaleda for making one of the killers a member of the sixth Parliament through the voting on Feb 15, 1996.

“It surprises me that many praised the killers by giving them titles,” she added.