Dhaka sharing info with Delhi on JMB: PM

Dhaka is sharing information with Delhi about the activities of banned militant outfit JMB on Indian soil, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said yesterday.

"We are verifying information that came up in Indian media reports on the JMB and its operation ... our intelligence agencies are working on it and we talked with India about the issue," Hasina told journalists at Gono Bhaban in the capital.

Bangladesh government would decide its next course of action after verifying the information, said the PM while briefing reporters about the outcome of her recent visit to the United Arab Emirates.

On media reports that India's National Investigation Agency uncovered a suspected plot by Jama'atul Mujahideen Bangladesh to assassinate her, the premier said she was not worried by the JMB threat.

“I have nothing to be worried about. I have been living an extended life. I have come under attack again and again,” she said.

When her attention was drawn to the confusion over the issue of presidential clemency for convicted war criminals and the possibility of bringing a constitutional amendment on presidential clemency, Hasina said the president must have some authority.

“There is no scope for bringing an amendment regarding the president's powers. The honourable president must hold the authority to give clemency. The provision is there in the constitution to uphold the fundamental rights of citizens. It cannot be revoked.”

On October 19, Law Minister Anisul Huq said the government was considering the inclusion of a provision in the constitution to make sure that presidential clemency wouldn't be applicable for those who are convicted of crimes committed during the 1971 Liberation War.

On the next parliamentary polls, the PM said, "According to the constitution, the government's tenure is for five years. The election can be held any time in a democracy and the government has every right to hold it any time. But I am saying the election will be held at the right time."

Hasina, also president of the ruling Awami League, said she would say “good bye” after turning Bangladesh into a middle income country by 2021.

About the BNP's claim that her UAE visit was unsuccessful, Hasina said the party considers everything as a failure because it failed at everything.

The PM also criticised the European Union for its statement over the death sentence for Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami.

"The European Union voices concern when the government tries war criminals who committed crimes against humanity. But some members of the European Union are holding trial for human rights violation during the Second World War," she said.

Hasina also raised a question as to why the EU remains silent whenever an atrocity is committed in Gaza.

(The Gono Bhaban yesterday denied The Daily Star reporter access to cover the PM's press briefing without giving any reason. The Daily Star, however, carries the report based on information obtained from secondary sources.)