Execution of killers a must to establish rule of law

Winners of art and music competitions pose for photograph with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the city yesterday. Photo: PID

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said the capital punishment of the killers of Bangabandhu and his family members, including child Sheikh Russel, is critically important to establish rule of law in the country.
She said this at a function marking the 47th birth anniversary of Sheikh Russell, the youngest son of father of the nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Sheikh Russell Jatiya Shishu-Kishore Parishad organised the function at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the city.
Hasina said: “By punishing the killers, we want to establish that one has to face punishment if he commits any injustice.”
She said there were some people who had supported the killers and urged the children to learn to hate the associates of the killers.
The premier said through the 15th Amendment of the constitution, the government made it clear that there is no scope for killing and grabbing the state power illegally.
Recalling some memories related with Sheikh Russell, Hasina said if he was alive he would have been a grown man now.
She said the killers killed Russell when he was crying to go to his mother. “Rehana and I escaped the massacre as we were in Germany on August 15 in 1975. If we took him along with us, he would have been alive today.”
Chaired by Sheikh Russell Jatiya Shishu-Kishore Parishad President Rakibur Rahman, the function was also addressed by State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Dr Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury, economist Dr Abul Barkat and Sheikh Russell Jatiya Shishu-Kishore Parishad Secretary General Mahmud Us Samad MP.
Later, the premier distributed prizes among the children who won the art and music competitions.