Mujib's killers now in Hasina's cabinet: Tarique
Bangladesh Nationalist Party senior vice-chairman Tarique said Sheikh Hasina, driven by the greed for power, has inducted in her cabinet those who had created the ground for killing Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
"Sheikh Hasina at a recent programme branded Khandaker Mushtaque Ahmed as a black sheep…those who had prepared the ground for Sheikh Mujib's killing, later told the media that Sheikh Mujib was an autocrat. And those who had administered and attended the oath taking ceremony of Khandaker Mushtaque are now roaming around Sheikh Hasina," he said.
Addressing a seminar in London on Sunday, he also said Awami League is a party of black sheep being led by Sheikh Hasina.
Calling Bangabandhu a 'failed' leader, Tarique Rahman said Sheikh Mujibur Rahman's family is not only a killer family but also a curse for Bangladesh.
Apparently reacting to the Prime Minister's recent remarks that the Zia family is a killer family, Tarique said, "They (Mujib family) are more than a family of killers…they are a curse for Bangladesh."
In support of his contention, Tarique also mentioned some incidents of killing taken place during Bangabandhu and Sheikh Hasina's regimes.
The UK chapter of Bangladesh Sammilita Peshajibi Parishad arranged the seminar, titled 'Strategies for a Prosperous Bangladesh', at London’s Queen Mary University.
The BNP leader further said, "So, can't we say Awami League is totally a party of black sheep? Can't we say Sheikh Hasina is a leader of black sheep?"
He also claimed that the Awami League leaders in 1975 had killed each other and one grabbed power from another.
Tarique accused Sheikh Mujib of killing 30,000 people after Bangladesh’s independence. "It's Awami League that introduced the extrajudicial killing in the country on January 2, 1975 by killing Siraj Shikder."
He also claimed that Sheikh Mujibur Rahman beat then deputy speaker Shahid Ali to death with a chair during Pakistan regime.
Justifying his assertion that the Mujib family a curse for Bangladesh, he said Sheikh Mujib had returned to Bangladesh on January 10, 1972 with a Pakistani passport and the country was labeled as a 'bottomless basket' during his rule. "Bangladesh had ranked the top most corrupt country in the world when his daughter assumed office for the first time."
Turning to the August 21, 2004 grenade attack incident, Tarique said Sheikh Hasina was aware of the grenade attack on an Awami League rally at the Bangabandhu Avenue in the city on August 21, 2004.
Mentioning that Awami League had been given permission for holding the rally at Muktangan on that day, he questioned why the AL changed the venue only in one and a half hours' notice. "It suggests Sheikh Hasina knew about the incident beforehand that's why she shifted the rally venue."
Criticising the ruling party leaders for involving his father in the Bangabandhu murder, Tarique said BNP had no existence and Zia had no link with politics when Mujib was killed.
He alleged that the Awami League leaders are carrying out false propaganda involving Zia in the Bangabandhu killing to hush up their own failures in 1975.
Awami League failed to run the sate after the independence as they failed to lead the people in 1971 during the Liberation War. "They never could do anything good for the people. They've always fought to make their own gains."
In his over two-hour long speech in two sessions, Tarique first talked about Bangladesh's contemporary politics and then about his plan for a prosperous country.
Tarique, the eldest son of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman and its current chairperson Khaleda Zia, has been staying in London since 2008.
He was arrested on March 7, 2007 during the then army-backed interim regime and freed from jail on bail on September 3, 2008. He left for London for treatment eight days later. He is an accused in a number of cases, including the August 21 grenade attack ones.