Patronizing terrorism
Saleem Samad, from Washington DC (30 September 2016) : Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reiterated that she would not give any concession to any political party which patronizes war criminals and supports terrorism and violence.She was speaking in the evening of Wednesday (28 September) to Greater Washington Chapter of Awami League and Bangladeshi residents in United States at the Ritz Carlton-Tyson Corn
er in Virginia, Washington DC.The Bangla-speaking US residents came together to wish wellbeing for Sheikh Hasina on her 70th birthday, which she officially cancelled on the sudden demise of the doyen of Bangla literature Syed Shamsul Haque. She said Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Jamaat-e-Islami burned people in the streets of Bangladesh to spoil the International Crimes Tribunal to save the indicted perpetrators of crime against humanity.
The prime minister in her 50-minute speech once again said BNP, Jamaat and their leaders must face trial for patronizing militancy, aiding and abetting terrorism and spoil war crimes trial.While sharing her thoughts she squarely blamed both the political parties for instigating terrorism and violence to oust her democratic government through a campaign of terror and violence. “The culprits, whoever they are, must be punished. Those who nurtured offenders, made war criminals ministers should face trial,” she has said adding that BNP chairperson have to face trial for her misdeeds.
The prime minister said cases were filed against BNP-Jamaat leaders and they must be put on trial. “We have accomplished the trial of assassination of Bangabandhu, now we are progressing with the trial of the war criminals. We will complete the process when all the perpetrators to be brought to justice,” she said.”Zia, Khaleda and Ershad awarded the war criminals ministerial positions; gave flags which fluttered on their official vehicles and residences. They also gave full VIP protocols to appease them,” she added.
Ridiculing the BNP leadership for relying on foreigners and making complaints frequently without any substance, Sheikh Hasina has said they have no confidence in people's strength.About her birthday, she said, “I don't like cutting cakes to celebrate birthday…My only motto is to complete the unfinished task of Bangabandhu to bring smile to the faces of downtrodden exploited masses.” Remembering the deadly night of terror at Holy Artisan in Gulshan, she said in less than 10 hours the jihadist were neutralized and eliminated and rescued 13 hostages alive. “It has created history in counter-terrorism warfare.”
She asked the audience to remember Khaleda Zia's coinage of words in her statement, which could be concluded as very peculiar and strange. BNP did not stop making sweeping remarks after other dawn raids in Kalyanpur and Narayanganj. “What do they (BNP) want? …want to stop counter-terrorism operations?” she questioned.When many foreign investors are planning to venture into setting up industries, such incidents of terrorism intermittently occurred. She, however, said her government was able to thwart such attempts to make the country a land of terrorism.
Hasina said she learned the lesson in her childhood from her late parents to sacrifice for the welfare of others. Members of her family never celebrated their birthdays in a high-profile manner when the people of Bangladesh had to struggle for food and shelter in those days.The prime minister flashed back on painful experience of her life after the assassination of Bangabandhu and her family members on August 15, 1975, and said she had led a refugee life for nearly six years abroad.
After returning to Bangladesh in 1981 as the President of Awami League, she said the ordeal did not end as she had to face various obstructions by the military junta of General Zia as well as internal conflict in her own party.She also alleged that General Zia's son (Tareque) was found involved in money-laundering which was brought to Bangladesh court from an FBI investigation.On the rule by the post-75 rule, the prime minister said the Zia, Khaleda and Ershad regimes were the weakest governments as they never dared to raise the issue of implementing the Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) with India or to resolve the maritime boundaries with India and Myanmar.
Regarding her dream of ‘Digital Bangladesh', she has said the vision is gradually reaching 4,550 villages of Bangladesh where people are getting digital services at affordable fees. Soon the gigantic national web portal would be completed and more services would be reached at each citizen's doorsteps, she added. “Awami League leaders and workers always stood beside me in my difficult time. Big leaders make mistakes but grassroots workers do not,” she said amidst cheers from her followers at the meeting.
When she was barred by the 1/11 military-backed care-taker government to return to Bangladesh, nearly a hundred expatriate Bangladeshi dared to accompany her to Dhaka, she said. She has not forgotten the sacrifices of the US and British residents.She urged the expatriates to remain vigilant against violent extremism that claimed many lives of Bangladeshis in the USA.
