Nothing can stop war crimes trial
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday reaffirmed her government's firm resolve to hold the trial of war criminals.
Speaking at a function at Dhaka University, she said those who thought the government would stop the trial proceedings by getting nervous in the face of different movements were wrong.
“The trial of those who have killed our renowned teachers and intellectuals, raped our mothers and sisters, oppressed our people and carried out arson attacks during the Liberation War must be held on Bangladesh soil,” she added.
Referring to the recent attacks on police by the activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir, Hasina said, “It is wrong to suppose that we will stop the trial [of war criminals] by getting nervous in the face of the movement.”
The premier mentioned that there had been many ill attempts to foil the trial proceedings.
Hasina recalled that the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had initiated the trial of war criminals after the country's liberation.
But the process got stalled after the assassination of Bangabandhu and most of his family members in 1975, she told her audience at Nawab Nabab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban.
Hasina alleged that some 11,000 war criminals were freed after 1975 and some of them were politically rehabilitated.
Appreciating the role of teachers and students of different universities in the struggle against the military-backed caretaker government in 2007, the premier conveyed her sincere felicitations to them.
“The teachers and students at that time had played a strong role against the military-backed caretaker government. If they had not, I doubt whether democracy could have been restored in Bangladesh,” she said.
Hasina told the audience that the universities should not be operated in and around the capital Dhaka and with motives of profit.
She called upon the members of alumni associations of different universities to assist their universities in their development.
The premier mentioned that the rate of education had risen to 65.5 percent from 45 during her previous term.
Earlier, Hasina unveiled the plaques of newly built Poet Sufia Kamal Hall, Santosh Chandra Bhattacharya Bhaban of Jagannath Hall, Social Sciences Building, Higher Humanity and Social Science Research Centre at the university.
She also laid the foundation stone of Bangabandhu Tower, Seventh March Building at Begum Rokeya Hall and Pharmacy Building on the campus.
Chaired by Dhaka University Vice Chancellor AAMS Arefin Siddique, the function was addressed, among others, by Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid and University Grants Commission Chairman AK Azad Chowdhury as special guests.
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