“They (army) will duly discharge their duties,” she said.
Khaleda said the Bangladesh army goes on UN peace-keeping missions to bring peace in other countries. "If there is no peace in their own country, will the foreigners not say the army has failed," she told a party rally in Bogra.
She said the BNP will intensify its agitation to oust the government.
“You (people) have done much, but you will have to endure for a bit longer. We will declare a programme of agitation tomorrow (Monday). All including mothers and sisters must come out on the streets to make the programme successful,” she said.
The local unit of the BNP organised the rally in memory of those killed in police firing on March 3. The BNP chief spoke to the family members of seven persons killed there and extended some financial assistance to them.
Khaleda alleged the government was shooting at people and killing them indiscriminately. “They (the government) have killed 170 innocent people,” she said.
Clashes on March 3 had left 12 people dead in Bogra.
The Opposition Leader said the government had no ‘moral rights’ to be in power after such atrocities.
She warned the government will not be able to control the opposition movement with torture and urged the people to build up resistance against it.
Khaleda congratulated the people of Bogra for ‘resisting’ police atrocities and lauded the role of the army in maintaining law and order in some parts of the district like Shahjahanpur.
She also urged the police and local administration to stand by the people to overcome the current crisis and not go against the people.
“The current government will have to stand trial for these indiscriminate killings,” she said.
The former Prime Minister criticised the government for politicising the judiciary.
She claimed the people of minority religions were not safe during the tenure of the current government.
“The Awami League has vandalised and ransacked Buddhist Viharas in Chittagong’s Ramu several months ago. Now, they are smashing Hindu temples and idols. The government’s supporters hacked a person like Biswajit Das to death,” Khaleda alleged.
She held the government responsible for the 2009 Peelkhana mutiny by a faction of the Bangladesh Rifles (now Border Guard Bangladesh), in which 54 army officers were murdered. She said just trial of the murders had not been held so far and demanded the government published the probe report on the murders by then Lt Gen Jahangir Alam.
Khaleda Zia promised to establish the rule of law, alleviate poverty, uproot corruption, create jobs and opportunities for the youths, ensure freedom of the judiciary and a congenial environment for foreign investment in Bangladesh once voted to power.
After the Matirdali More road rally, the BNP chief’s motorcade started for Joypurhat.
