Hasina goes for Khaleda-bashing

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday branded her political archrival Khaleda Zia "a killer" and "a person with a sick mind", and said the BNP chairperson had better go to Pakistan.

"There are many people in Bangladesh who still wish to be slaves of Pakistan and they do not believe in the country's independence. Khaleda Zia is one of them and she still is with the defeated forces [of the Liberation War]. People, who want to be Pakistan's slaves, may leave the country for Pakistan," she said.

Hasina, also the president of the ruling Awami League, was addressing a rally marking the National Mourning Day at Suhrawardy Udyan in the afternoon. The Dhaka City unit AL organised the programme.

She lambasted Khaleda for celebrating her birthday on August 15, the day Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman was assassinated with most of his family members in 1975 by some wayward army personnel.

If Khaleda Zia really didn't have a sick mind, it would not be possible for her to celebrate birthday on the day, she said.

"By celebrating birthday on August 15, she has proved that she is still with the killers [of Bangabandhu] and war criminals."

The AL chief also accused Khaleda of having killed "hundreds of people" to foil January 5 polls.

She said the BNP-Jamaat alliance killed people in the name of movement to resist the election the same way as the Pak army had killed Bangladeshis in 1971.

"Despite killing several hundred people, her [Khaleda's] thirst for blood is not quenched yet."

In a flurry of accusations, the PM went on to say that BNP founder Ziaur Rahman was involved in the assassination of Bangabandhu.

"Moshtaque [Khandaker Moshtaque Ahmed] appointed Ziaur Rahman as army chief after August 15," she said, posing a question how Zia had got such a big post if he had no ties with the killers.

Referring to the interviews of Bangabandhu's self-confessed killers Faruk and Rashid with the BBC, Hasina said, "In the interview, Faruk and Rashid said that they had met Zia before the killing and received his green signal. Then Zia told them that he would be with them if they came out successful."

The people of Bangladesh would not accept the uprising of any defeated forces on the soil of this country, she said.

Looking forward to the future, the premier vowed to make Bangladesh a middle income country by 2021 and a developed nation by 2041.

Senior AL leaders Tofail Ahmed, Suranjit Sengupta, Matia Chowdhury, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Shahara Khatun, Mahabubul Alam Hanif and Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, and Dhaka University Vice Chancellor AAMS Arefin Siddique also spoke at the rally.