Opposition Jatiya Party's Co-Chairman Rowshan Ershad has claimed her husband and former military dictator HM Ershad is not responsible for the death of Noor Hossain during a 1987 protest for democracy.
“The protesters killed Noor Hossain, because without a dead body the movement would not have the momentum,” Rowshan said at a party event in the capital on Friday.
She also claimed that Jatiya Party, founded by Ershad, had introduced democracy to the country.
“Again in 2014, we took part in the election to save democracy. But they call Ershad a dictator. If he were a dictator, why do people vote for him still?” she said.
“Ershad is not a dictator, he is a man who loves democracy. When he was in power, he worked for the good of the people. That is why people vote for him time after time.”
Of the many martyrs in the movement for democracy against General Ershad's autocratic regime, Noor Hossain is the most well-remembered.
He was killed during a protest of all political parties against Ershad in Dhaka on November 10, 1987, at Gulistan's Zero Point.
The words written on his chest and back as he protested that day, captured in the camera of photojournalist Pavel Rahman of the New Nation, became the slogan for democracy around the country.
Rowshan in her speech criticised the Awami League government, saying people feared for the safety of their lives under this regime.
“In the last five years, 519 people have disappeared. Who took them?” she asked.
The Jatiya Party activists in the audience shouted 'the government!' in reply.
The opposition organised the event on the occasion of Democracy Day. JaPa leaders Ruhul Amin Howlader, Kazi Firoz Rashid, SM Faisal Chishti, Sunil Shuvo Roy were present among others.
Rowshan announced at the event that party Chairman HM Ershad is going to Singapore for treatment on December 3.
Thursday, April 25, 2024
