Padma corrupt to be tried in future
Once her party is voted to power, those involved in the “Padma Bridge corruption” and those who plundered the money allocated for the project would be brought to book, said BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday.
Claiming that the Awami League-led government had failed to complete any development project, she pledged to construct two bridges over the Padma river, one at Mawa and the second one at Paturia.
Keeping the prices of daily essentials under control and ensuring fair prices for crops produced by farmers were the major pledges she made at a rally at the Kushtia Govt College ground. The rally was part of the road march towards Khulna launched by the BNP-led four-party alliance mainly to force the government from power and restore the caretaker government system.
She also urged the government to approve a “procurement policy” so that farmers could get fair prices for their crops.
Asserting that the Awami League would never be able to implement any development project, Khaleda called upon Awami League supporters and leaders to join her party and accelerate the country's development. “Come with us. You [AL men] will get due honour and positions,” she said.
She said the next general elections would not be free and fair if the ministers and MPs of the ruling party remained in power. She accused the government of pushing the country towards a one-party system. She told her audience, “The government has abolished the caretaker system to hold on to power forever.”
Referring to the government's refusal to deploy the army in the recently concluded Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC) polls even though the Election Commission had asked for it, she said this proves that the EC could not work independently. She said the EC had turned into an institution dedicated to complying with the government's instructions.
About her letter to the Indian leadership last week proposing a joint survey by Dhaka and Delhi before the controversial Tipaimukh Dam project on the Barak could go ahead, Khaleda said she had written to Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the government had “never protested the Indian initiative” to build the dam on a shared river.
“The Indian High Commission responded to the letter this morning [Saturday]. I will look into it after returning to Dhaka,” she said.
Addressing the Kushtia rally in the evening, she claimed that the government was “appointing party-biased judges”, which was putting justice at stake.
“The government is constructing roads and developing infrastructure in Ashuganj to give a corridor to India. But the government has no headache about the dilapidated roads countrywide that cause untold sufferings to the people,” she said.
She claimed that the Awami League men did not fight for the independence of the country and that they had been avoiding going into battle by staying in a neighbouring country during the war.
She promised jobs, businesses and training to transform the young generation into a skilled human resource.
The government was serving the purposes of the neighbouring country instead of protecting the interests of the people, she said. In a rhetorical flourish, she asked, “What will be your [young generation] future if Bangladesh becomes a state of another country?”
The country's economic condition remained very vulnerable as the foreign currency reserve at the central bank has gone down to zero, she claimed.
On the gas and electricity crisis, she said the government was trying to sell gas abroad instead of trying to resolve the crisis at home. The government had been increasing fuel prices repeatedly without at the same time taking any initiative to provide people with facilities.
On the killings by the Indian Border Security Force of Bangladeshi citizens, the leader of the opposition said the “inefficient” government had failed to ensure people's security.
At another street rally earlier in Ishwardi, Khaleda alleged that high-profile leaders of the Awami League were responsible for the recent share market downswings. “That is why the finance minister did not reveal the names of the share market scamsters after investigation,” Khaleda claimed.
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