All verdicts to be executed
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday once again vowed to complete the war crimes trial and execute all the verdicts to free the nation from stigma.
The Awami League-led government had committed itself to trying war criminals, she said at a public rally at Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital, adding, “We did it, despite threats from several quarters.”
The ruling party organised the rally to mark the 39th Jail Killing Day in commemoration of the assassinations of four national leaders -- Syed Nazrul Islam, Tajuddin Ahmad, Capt M Mansur Ali and Quamruzzaman.
Referring to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia's oft-repeated anti-government movement, Hasina, president of the ruling Awami League, said, “I am urging her to launch a movement, taking people with her and then we will have no problem. But you will have to cut ties with terrorists, militants and war criminals as there is no place for them in the county."
The BNP is finding it difficult to “swallow or spit out” its ally Jamaat-e-Islami. Khaleda can neither cut her ties with Jamaat, nor can she continue her relationship with the party, Hasina said.
Boycotting the January 5 national election was Khaleda's wrong decision, she said, adding that people were not supposed to get punished for her mistakes.
The premier lambasted Khaleda for her remark that the incumbent government is illegal.
“Ziaur Rahman declared himself president illegally and formed BNP in the same manner. So, as the chief of an illegal party, she [Khaleda] always considers everything of the present government illegal.”
Hasina accused former president Ziaur Rahman of burying country's democracy by taking over the state power illegally and rehabilitating the anti-liberation forces in politics after the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975.
She also accused her special envoy and Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad of patronising and rehabilitating the killers of Bangabandhu and the four national leaders.
The present government was elected through people's mandate, the AL chief said.
The whole world recognised the latest parliamentary election, she said, citing Bangladesh's victory in the battle for the top posts of two global parliamentary forums -- Commonwealth Parliamentary Association and Inter Parliamentary Union.
Referring to Khaleda's claim that her husband BNP founder Ziaur Rahman was the one who first proclaimed the nation's independence, Hasina asked why she had then inducted two war criminals into her cabinet.
The PM also recalled the contribution of the four leaders, killed in jail on November 3, 1975.
Deputy Leader of the House Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury presided over the rally where AL leaders Tofail Ahmed, Syed Ashraful Islam, Matia Chowdhury, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim and Mohammad Nasim also spoke.
The PM and other leaders and activists of the ruling party and its associate bodies and socio-cultural organisations in the early morning placed floral wreaths at the portrait of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on the premises of Bangabandhu Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi in the capital and the graves of the national leaders at Banani Graveyard.
Talking to reporters at Dhanmondi, AL spokesperson Syed Ashraful ruled out any possibility of a midterm election.
“There is no need for midterm election at this moment. Election will be held in time in continuation of the democracy."
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