Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina Tuesday said people had forgotten what military dictator General Ziaur Rahman did during the period of his regime, adding that the BNP founder had first killed the Father of the Nation on August 15, 1975, and then killed four national leaders in jail on November 3 of the same year.
Later on, he killed many military officers, committing coups one after another, she added.
The military personnel who were killed by Ziaur Rahman did not even know what their faults were, she said, adding that Zia not only killed people in the military but also killed thousands of Awami League leaders and activists.
The premier said her government would have to hold trials for the mass killings of military personnel and the arson terrorism sponsored by the BNP-Jamaat clique from 2013 to 2015.
"I have no words to console you. I am one of you as I heard one day that I have nothing (after the assassination of her parents and brothers)...some culprits have already got their punishment, some are getting it and the remaining others too will face the music," she said.
The premier was exchanging Eid greetings with family members of the victims at her official residence Ganabhaban. Traders and shop owners affected by the devastating fire at Bangabazar were also present, BSS reported.
The prime minister said she had invited those who have lost their near and dear ones like her to exchange views and greetings ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr, assuring them of standing beside them in their hour of need. “I will stay beside you to the best of my ability,” she said.
Sheikh Hasina said she had to witness judges feeling embarrassed to hold the trial in the August 15, 1975 murder case.
About arson terrorism in the name of a movement to topple the government, she said she did not know how people can burn humans to death alive. "They (BNP-Jamaat) never want the people of the country to be in a good condition," she said.
About the recent fire incidents in the capital one after another, the prime minister said she suspects that the BNP-Jamaat alliance might have been involved in the misdeed, as they had committed similar acts in the past in different forms.
AL Publicity and Publication Secretary Dr Abdus Sobhan Golap moderated the function.
Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader, Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Huq and Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan were present on the occasion.
Two separate video clips on the mass killings committed during the regime of military dictator Ziaur Rahman in the name of so-called court martials and killing and injuring people in arson terrorism by the BNP-Jamaat clique from 2013 to 2015 in the name of the movement, were screened at the function.
Victims' families recount horror
Nur Nahar Begum, wife of Sergeant Delwar Hossain of Bangladesh Air Force, who was hanged to death in a farcical military trial by military dictator Ziaur Rahman, described how inhumanly her husband was killed and how he was buried in a mass grave in Azimpur Graveyard.
"No one wanted to hear anything about our pain in the last 46 years. But you gave us patience in hearing about our pain, as you can realize how we feel inside as you have lost your parents and brothers," she said.
Nur Nahar demanded an immediate trial of her husband's killing in her lifetime, as she is now 72 years old, saying: "All the people across the globe will know what Ziaur Rahman had done."
She also demanded the building of a memorial at the place of the mass graves of the military personnel killed during the regime of military dictator Ziaur Rahman.
The prime minister burst into tears upon hearing the painful description of Nur Nahar Begum.
Maksuda Parvin, daughter of Sergeant Morshedul Alam of the air force, who was killed in a so-called military trial by Ziaur Rahman, demanded the posthumous trial of Ziaur Rahman for killing her father and wanted assurances from the prime minister by having the premier's hands on her head.
At one stage, the prime minister went to Maksuda and put her hands on Maksuda's head and held her closely in her arms.
Sub-inspector Mokbul Hossain said he had lost his two wrists in the firebomb attacks by the BNP-Jamaat men while he was performing duties at Shahebbazar area under Boalia police station in Rajshahi in 2013.
"I lost my wrists after one and a half months of joining the police service. I cannot show my love to my children with my hands and I have no answer when my children ask 'where are your hands (wrists)'? I demand an immediate trial," he said.
Salahuddin Bhuiyan, whose face and hands were badly burnt in the fire bomb attacks by the BNP-Jamaat men in a passenger bus in Jatrabari area on his way back home from Elephant Road area upon completion of his job at a shop, demanded the immediate trial of the culprits.