Recalling her days in captivity during the caretaker government of Fakhruddin Ahmed, Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Tuesday warned that those who were behind her arrest would be held accountable.
“The then BNP-led government carried out attacks and torture in the country, but the caretaker government arrested me first. I know who had me arrested. They will be held accountable,” she said while speaking at a discussion event in the Krishibid Institution auditorium in Dhaka.
Awami League arranged the event marking the 48th Independence and National Day.
On July 16, 2007, Hasina was arrested from her Sudha Sadan residence at Dhanmondi during the military-backed caretaker government, which assumed power amid the 1/11 political changeover.
On June 11, 2008, she was released from a special sub-jail set up on the premises of Jatiya Sangsad building, ending her 11 months’ captivity.
Addressing the event, the premier urged all to remain alert so the anti-liberation forces can never come to power.
"This independence was earned at the cost of blood of tens of thousands of people. Those who want to foil our independence should never come to power."
Hasina further said: "The country shouldn't be of militancy, anti-liberation forces and war criminals... It has to be built based on the ideology of freedom fighters."
She claimed it was internationally recognized that no one of her family was involved in any corruption though Awami League is in power.
Slating BNP, the prime minister alleged: "After coming into power, BNP hired a special agency to level corruption charges against me, my sister [Sheikh Rehana], and my son and daughter. But it found nothing,.
BNP made Bangladesh the world champion in corruption for five times, Hasina added.
In an oblique reference to Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus, the premier said Yunus had, too, made an attempt in the United States to find whether corruption was committed by any of her family.
Without mentioning his name, Hasina also accused Dr Yunus of playing a role in the cancellation of World Bank's funding for the Padma Bridge project.
"They tried to put corruption blame on us. I also threw a challenge and told them to prove it. But, they couldn't prove it... The Canadian Federal Court dismissed all the allegations, terming them baseless," she added.
Hasina lambasted her political arch-rival and former prime minister Khaleda Zia's family, saying they indulged in corruption and money-laundering when BNP was in power. "Their money-laundering incidents were proved in foreign courts as well.”
Turning to the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case, the premier said that although the fund came for orphans in 1991, it was “embezzled” without giving a single penny to them.
She said the court meted out punishment to BNP chief Khaleda, and the government had nothing to do in this regard. "Had we had any intention to arrest her [Khaleda], we could have done so when her party unleashed “fire terrorism” [in the name of movement in 2015].
She said her government's only goal is to take benefits of the independence to every doorstep across the country.
Hasina added that they want to work not for their personal gains but for making the country's people wealthy and improving their lifestyles.
"We want to work so that no one remains homeless and hungry and dies without treatment."
She said Bangladesh is now a technologically advanced country.
“We're launching the Bangabandhu-I satellite, the longevity of which will be 15 years. Out government has a plan to launch Bangabandhu-II and Bangabandhu-III satellites into the orbit in the future.”
Senior leaders of the ruling Awami League, including Amir Hossain Amu, Tofail Ahmed, Syed Ashraful Islam, Engr Mosharraf Hossain and Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, National University Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Harun-or-Rashid, Prof Dr Sadeka Halim of Dhaka University also addressed the program.Parts of this article were taken from banglatribune.com
Friday, March 21, 2025
