‘People involved in patronising, financing arson-terrorism must face music’

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Tuesday told the Jatiya Sangsad (national parliament) that no benefit will be yielded lodging complaints to foreigners, rather Bangladesh will march towards prosperity at an indomitable pace by maintaining democratic process.

“No advantage to be gained by making complaints to the foreigners. And the country will not run on what the foreigners’ say. We have seen elections in every country,” she said.

She was giving a valedictory speech and taking part in the discussion on the thanksgiving motion of the President’s speech and the first session of the 12th parliament.

The prime minister said, “The parliament will run in a fair manner and the democratic process will be continued. Bangladesh will go ahead at an indomitable pace.”

She said 50 parliamentary committees have so far been formed and passed in the parliament aimed at ruining the parliament fairly and effectively.

Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury presided over the last sitting.

Sheikh Hasina, also Leader of the House, came down heavily on the “Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami clique” for carrying out mayhem that included arson terrorism in the country in the name of movements for preventing elections.

She said, “They (BNP and Jamaat) are now complaining to foreigners that their leaders and workers have been arrested on political grounds despite the fact that they have been arrested on specific charges of patronising, financing and directly involving in the arson terrorism in which several hundred innocent people were killed and many of them were burned to death alive.”

A video clip “on the mayhem of BNP and Jamaat from 2013-2015 and 23 October to 2 November of 2023” was screened at the Jatiya Sangsad.

After showing the video clip, the prime minister said, “The scenes are very few. They did it day after day. It will not be possible to pardon those who were involved in such heinous acts. They have to face the music.”

She continued: “None of them were arrested on political grounds. Those who were involved in patronising, financing to such acts will not be spared anymore”.

The prime minister asked the MPs to look into the matters and make sure that the culprits get punishment for their misdeeds.

Sheikh Hasina remarked that the BNP has appeared before the people as ‘Azrail’ for killing people including women and children through arson terrorism even in the hospitals like the Israelis.

The prime minister said the Israeli bomb attacks on Gaza’s hospital killed even women and children.

“The same character -- what Israelis are doing in Gaza – BNP is doing the same here. BNP has appeared as ‘Azrail’ in Bangladesh,” she said.

Lambasting the key opposition party, the prime minister said, “BNP’s character is killing people and making corruption. BNP workers are killing people through arson violence after getting orders from London and send the pictures of the mayhem to London.”

“What kind of leader is he? And what kind of workers are they? How do they kill people,” she posed questions.

The prime minister also asked the people to raise protest against the mayhem.

Sheikh Hasina said BNP will not take part in the election as they know they will not get public support.

“They will not participate in the election because they know they will not get vote and public support as well. They have no confidence in the people,” she stated.

Replying to a remark on the 12th parliamentary election by Leader of the Opposition in parliament GM Quader, the prime minister asserted, no election, like the recently concluded one, was held in such a free, fair and neutral manner in the past.

The most surprising thing about this election was spontaneous participation of the people particularly women, new and young voters, she said.

Referring to 2008 general elections (which was accepted by all), she said Awami League got 233 seats and BNP-led alliance bagged 30 seats out of 300. “Since then, the BNP started a movement bypassing the election,” she said.

Sheikh Hasina said GM Quader did not show statistics regarding the elections held during two military dictators Ziaur Rahman and his brother HM Ershad.

The prime minister continued that one military dictator had shown the path on how to manipulate the election while the other one followed the same.

Recalling the 1986 election during the regime of Ershad, she said, the then government locked the vote boxes and announced the election result after 48 hours as the Awami League actually won the election.

“I will be happy if he (GM Quader) can show the statistics of the election result held under his brother’s administration,” she said.

The 1986 election did not get public support like the voterless election of 1996 under the BNP government.

“Khaleda had to say goodbye to power due to anger of the people for vote rigging,” she said.

Sheikh Hasina said some people have raised questions about how the Awami League got such a large number of seats.

The Awami League got public support time and again as it has been proved that whenever the party assumes power, they serve the people and change their fate and fortune, she observed.

In the next five years, she said, the Awami League government will implement its election manifesto of 2024.

“It is our only vow that in our five-year tenure, we’ll implement the promises that we have made in the election manifesto,” she said.

The electoral promises will be reflected in the next national budget also, she said.

Mentioning that her new cabinet has taken some decisions, she said the government will take and implement development projects for welfare of the country and will finish the ongoing schemes quickly.

Sheikh Hasina said the government would also take effective measures to control inflation.

She said that they have also taken a decision for keeping the commodity prices at tolerable levels during the holy month of Ramadan by controlling the prices and ensuring their supply to the markets.

She reiterated that the government would continue its “zero tolerance policy against corruption”.

The prime minister said they will ensure transparency and accountability to public procurement.

Besides, she said, they will ensure right persons to be beneficiaries of the social safety net programmes, create new entrepreneurs, recruit to the vacant posts in the government services, diversify export basket, produce new products, search new export markets for Bangladeshi goods, promote development of agro-processed goods and industry, ensure the facilities and incentives for leather, jute goods and other goods as now enjoy the readymade garments.