PM on Extra-Judicial Killings, Crimes: Govt not sparing anyone involved
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said her government was not sparing anyone involved in extrajudicial killings.
Delivering her closing speech at the ninth session of the current parliament, she said, "We are not sparing anyone involved in extrajudicial killings and we never do that."
The PM called upon all to be considerate over criticising law enforcers as they have been working to tackle narcotics, terrorism and militancy by risking their lives.
She made the comments in response to criticism of the government and law enforcement agencies by deputy opposition leader GM Quader over extrajudicial killings.
Hasina said people should not do anything which might cause fear among the law enforcers. It is necessary that law enforcers do not lose their morale in carrying out their duties, she said.
She said the law enforcement agencies have been working tirelessly and they have achieved a huge success in controlling narcotics, terrorism and militancy.
"If any accident occurs while carrying out their duties, it occurs unusually. But the government is not sparing anyone and it is taking appropriate actions against those responsible. Nobody can say that we are sparing anyone involved in crimes."
Hasina said people call law enforcement agencies when they are in danger. It is the police who are called first during danger periods and the people's security is ensured by them, she added.
The PM said her government does not spare anyone involved in crimes as it wants to end the legacy of extrajudicial killings initiated by Ziaur Rahman.
"You [deputy opposition leader GM Quader] are talking about extrajudicial killings. But who had initiated it? It started during the regime of Ziaur Rahman. Bodies of many leaders and activists were not found at that time. Later it [extrajudicial killing] was given an institutional shape. We are looking into ways of controlling it," the PM told parliament.
CORONAVIRUS VACCINE
About the government's initiatives on controlling the Covid-19 pandemic, Hasina said the government is set to use the vaccine whichever would be available first in the world to save the country's people from the virus.
"Different countries across the world have been carrying out researches on vaccines for Covid-19. We have heard from many countries [about their invention of vaccine]. We have approached all the countries [to avail the vaccine] and allocated funds to procure it. We will take the vaccine whichever comes first and use it to save our people from the novel coronavirus."
Responding to allegations made by GM Quader about corruption and irregularities in the health sector, the premier said the government has taken various measures to tackle the crisis arising out of the coronavirus pandemic and keep the wheels of the economy running. She said the government was spending money like water for this reason.
Noting that the government did not consider how much money was spent for fighting Covid-19 or if there was any system loss, Hasina said the government's first priority was to save people's lives. "Saving lives of people matters for us rather than considering how much money was spent."
She urged all to talk about corruption after having specific data.
Referring to the corruption allegation made by GM Quader about the purchase of a chair or milk testing kit for the livestock department, the PM said the amount mentioned against the procurement was not only for buying a chair and a kit for testing milk, rather for purchasing a set of chairs and setting up a laboratory for testing milk.
NARAYANGANJ MOSQUE
About the September 2 explosion at a Narayanganj mosque, Hasina said the mosque was built on a piece of unauthorised land and construction work was done on a gas pipeline in an unplanned way. Besides, no permission was taken from the authorities concerned, she added.
The PM said it was very unfortunate that many lives were lost when people were saying prayers inside the mosque. She prayed for the salvation of the departed souls.
She asked people to construct structures following rules and building codes to prevent any accidents in future.
'OPPOSITION DOMINATES THIS SESSION'
About prorogation of the 9th session of the Jatiya Sangsad, Hasina said none from the ruling Awami League got the opportunity to speak during this session, except for the day (September 6) when the discussion on a condolence motion was held. "This session of parliament was only of the opposition. They spoke on different issues. During the passage of the bills, parliament was under the dominance of the opposition," she said.
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