We are all being raped: Ershad

Jatiya Party chairman HM Ershad on Sunday said the number of rape incidents in the country has increased alarmingly.

"We are all being raped. It seems that it is a curse to be born as a woman," Ershad told a district conference of Jatiya Party at the public library playground in Rangpur.

The former autocratic ruler claimed that people were safe during his rule, but the number of killings has increased nowadays.

Ershad said politicisation and corruption are now widespread and the executive does not listen to anyone.

He said people are not living in peace and they are now in a suffocated situation. The people now want to get rid of this situation and they want change, Ershad added.

Referring to ruling Awami League and the opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), he said, "The Awami League ascended to power in 1996 with the support of the Jatiya Party, but they treated me unfairly. My party was split into pieces."

"I was taken to the jail during the rule of BNP. I was not even allowed to get admitted to the hospital. I was not even given Iftar. However, I survived by the grace of Almighty Allah and the love of the people."

About the prime minister, Ershad, "Nothing happens without the direction of Hasina. We do not want a one party rule, we want a government by the people. We have to establish good governance. This is our opportunity."

About the position of JaPa in Rangpur, Ershad said, “Once Rangpur was a stronghold of the Jatiya Party, but things have changed now. The number of seats has come down. We have to regain those seats. We have to work to win in the 22 constituencies in greater Rangpur. We will go to power if we get those 22 seats."

On peddling of drugs, Ershad said, "There were no yaba during my time. Now they are available even at tea stalls. Narcotics leave the young generation on the verge of ruination."