Continue movement until people’s rule established: Khaleda
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson and former prime minister Khaleda Zia on Wednesday gave a clarion call for forging a national consensus for fair elections to establish the people’s rule in Bangladesh.
“I am urging every democratic political party including BNP and 20-party alliance and people from all professions including workers and farmers to forge a greater national unity,” said Khaleda while addressing a media conference at her Gulshan office.
The former prime minister made the call at a time when a makeshift court is scheduled to deliver its judgement Thursday in a graft case filed against her, her self-exiled son Tarique Rahman and four others.
Read more: Your Khaleda didn't commit any corruption: BNP chief tells countrymen
Several ministers and ruling party men have dropped hints that Khaleda will be sentenced to certain jail term and landed in jail.
“My appeal to my beloved countrymen: please do believe that I am with you even if an attempt is made to isolate me from you,” said Khaleda in the press conference.
She went on to say, “You will continue a united, peaceful and disciplined movement for democracy and for establishing people's rights, a fair election, and a government of the people. Students and youths have always risen to the occasion in Bangladesh. The Bengali was recognised as a state language through a united movement of the students and the people. Our liberation was achieved through a war waged by soldiers, students and people. And the autocrat was overthrown by such a student-people movement.
“Today, I am calling upon that student-and-people to come forward to restore democracy, and to protect the country’s sovereignty. I am urging every democratic political party including the BNP and 20-party alliance and the people from all professions including workers and farmers to forge a greater national unity.
“There are some people even in the Bangladesh Awami League (AL) who believe in democracy and the rights to people and who think about future consequences. My same call is also to them," she said.
Khaleda Zia said, “Many traps will be laid in future. Many conspiracies will be hatched. All of you remain vigilant and careful. Do whatever you want to do after necessary deliberations. This country is of all of us, not of any certain person or any certain political party."
The BNP leader also made her party's ideological position clear: “We don’t want clashes, killing and anarchy. We want peace, want a fair election. We still hope that the good sense will prevail upon the Awami League leadership.
“Keeping that hope in mind, I am making a clarion call: let’s make an arrangement for holding a fair election, treading the path of peace, through holding consensus, shunning the path of intimidation and repression.
“This election is neither aimed at evicting anyone from power nor aimed at sending somebody to power. This election will be an election for running the state taking the people’s mandate,” said Khaleda.
Claiming that Bangladesh has been made a greater jail, Khaleda said, “We all will be freed In Sha Allah when the country will be freed through establishing people’s rule.”
At the beginning of her address to the media, the former prime minister said, “I want to tell my beloved countrymen something at a time when the nation is passing through an acute crisis.”
Mentioning that the people of Bangladesh are democracy-loving, Khaleda said the people of this country did not accept the one-party rule established shortly after the liberation, curbing all rights of the people.
She recalled the anti-autocratic movement in 90’s and said the people did not accept even the “undemocratic rule” established in the name of emergency government [2007 to 2008].
“Their desire to prolong the [undemocratic] rule wasn’t fulfilled because of the resistance of the students and the common people.”
She went on to say, “The people today have lost their hard-earned democracy and their rights. In the name of development, an unbearable repressive regime –the regime of exploitation, deprivation and looting – is making the life of people hell.
“This autocratic regime has deprived people of their voting rights. It’s deprived the people of food. The education system has been destroyed. People don’t have employment opportunities,” she added.
Shedding light on the corruption and embezzlement of money in the country’s financial sector, Khaleda said, “They [AL] have ridiculously downplayed embezzlement of billions of taka by calling this a ‘little damage’. Billions of taka have been siphoned from the country.
“Those who committed this corruption are not brought to book. Reports are not made public even after investigations are carried out. Culprits are not detained. Trials are not held.”
Khaleda alleged that the government has blocked all the means of registering protests against injustice, exploitation, looting, and deprivation by false cases, arrests, intimidations and tortures.
“Incidents of abduction, enforced disappearances and killing have become commonplace in Bangladesh. People are weeping in every home. The air is heavy with the wails of the families and loved ones of those who have been killed or made to disappear.
“Even the members of civil society have lost their courage to speak up fearing harassment and humiliation,” said Khaleda.
Dwelling on the judiciary, she alleged the country’s judiciary has been made a farce through politicisation, intimidation and shady tactics.
The BNP chairperson said her party would have joined the 2014 general elections had it been held in a fair manner.
Alleging that thousands of false cases were filed against BNP persons across the country, Khaleda said, “Those who gave orders to kill people with sticks and oars, who burnt passengers to death by spreading gunpowder in buses, who in the name of movement for neutral poll-time government created a reign of terror across the country by setting fire to banks and petrol pumps and removing railway tracks and halting operation of Chittagong port, are now filing cases against us.”
Khaleda alleged further that a smear campaign was on and hatred was being spread against the armed forces. The former prime minister said the law enforcers have been pitted against the people through politicisation and different evil means.
“People want to get rid of this suffocating situation. They want back their rights. They are looking at us and that’s why we launched a democratic movement. And many people were killed, made to disappear in the process of that movement. Numerous activists are leading inhuman lives. The hands of this regime have been stained with the blood of many innocent people.
“It’s not an easy task to free democracy from the clutches of this bloodthirsty regime, but we haven’t surrendered. The people will not lose,” she added.
Mentioning that the ruling Bangladesh Awami League (AL) did not come to power through people’s mandate, she said, “In question of morality, this government is illegal and that’s why they [AL] have no moral courage, no matter how much loud their roar may be.”
She alleged the AL wanted to stay in power during the general elections with a view to manipulating election results. “They did such a farce in the past and want to do it again.
She said the AL government is torturing opposition activists and filing false cases against them as they were waging a movement for a fair election.
“The verdict of such a false against me will be pronounced tomorrow. Much before the court verdict the ruling quarters have been shouting that I will be sentenced to jail term as the rulers, not the judges, are handing down the judgement.
“Even after that, I want to tell the country men with pride: ‘Your Khaleda Zia didn’t commit any crime. I didn’t commit any corruption’. I was in no way involved in the operation of the fund of the Zia Orphanage Trust,” said the former prime minister.
She claimed that Zia Orphanage Trust was formed with the grants given by the then Kuwait amir – a friend of Ziaur Rahman – to preserve his memory.
Read more: Architects of fictitious graft case deserve punishment: Khaleda
“Preparing fake documents, they’ve indicted me in this case and my lawyers have proved that in the court. The most important piece of information is: not a single penny of the trust fund has been misappropriated and all the money is deposited with the bank in the name of the trust and which has now increased threefold,” claimed Khaleda.
Khaleda expressed her gratitude towards the people of Bangladesh for presenting her landslide victories in all of five constituencies time and again and for their love showered on her during her every trip to the countryside.
“I couldn’t give time to my family, my sons, as much as I gave to the people since I joined politics. I lost my mother while I was in jail. I lost one of my sons when I was confined to my office. The other son is seriously injured and undergoing treatment abroad.
“The people of the country are my relatives in my life without any family. Allah is my only shelter. I will never leave my people no matter how and where I am as long as I am alive.”