1972-75 AL RULE Fakhrul to PM: Say sorry for misrule

Senior BNP leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir wants the prime minister to apologise to the people for the 'mistakes' committed by her father.

bdnews24.com
Published : 28 July 2011, 11:13 AM
Updated : 28 July 2011, 11:13 AM
Dhaka, July 28 (bdnews24.com) β€” A senior BNP leader wants the prime minister to apologise to the people for the 'mistakes' committed during her father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's regime.
"Siraj Sikder and 30,000 other political workers were killed during Awami League's 1972-75 rule. Democracy was butchered with the Fourth Amendment. The prime minister should ask the people for forgiveness," BNP acting secretary-general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said on Thursday.
Sikder, one of the organisers of the independence of Bangladesh and a founder of Purba Bangla Sarbahara Party, was killed in 1975 in the custody of the Rakkhi Bahini -- a paramilitary force.
Fakhrul's comments came in response to Sheikh Hasina's statement on Wednesday that the BNP chairperson should apologise to the nation for saying she wants to throw away the constitution.
Founding president Mujib in June 1975 formed BKSAL (Bangladesh Krishak Sramik Awami League), banning all other parties, through the Fourth Amendment, in a desperate effort to pull the country out of chaos.
The amendment also introduced presidential form of government.
Reacting to the 15th amendment passed in parliament recently, BNP chief Khaleda Zia remarked that the amendment would be thrown away once her party comes to power.
"The people have been betrayed," Fakhrul said, referring to the 15th amendment to the constitution.
He also outlined various development initiatives taken in the education sector by the BNP government.
"We are ahead of India in women's education because of the landmark initiatives of the BNP. But the prime minister says BNP did no development," he said.
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