Voters won’t respond to Khaleda’s call: Hasina.
The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, on Sunday said that those who have humanity would not vote BNP and respond to any calls of its chairperson Khaleda Zia for what they did in 91 days in the name of movement. ‘How people would vote BNP and support its chairperson as 157 innocent people were burnt to death and 508 people suffered burn injuries during her [Khaleda] blockade and hartals,’ Hasina said at a press conference at her Ganabhaban residence. Asked about Khaleda’s call for ‘silent revenge against atrocities of the ruling Awami League’ through voting the BNP-backed candidates in city polls scheduled for Tuesday, Hasina said, ‘It is unfortunate for people that they have got a leader like Khaleda Zia, who is accustomed with lying and killing people.’ How Khaleda seeks vote from the people whom she had burnt alive, Hasina said. She said that except for some media people and newspaper owners no general and conscious citizens would response to the call of Khaleda.
The prime minister termed Khaleda’s statement, made at a press conference at her Gulshan office on Sunday, ‘irresponsible’ and ‘full of lies’. Hasina said that Khaleda was now talking about revenge after tarnishing the image of the country as the international community had never seen such inhuman acts in the name of movement. ‘Where will you [Khaleda] go if people take revenge on you for the atrocities you committed 2001 elections, before the January 5 elections and in 91 days of blockade and hartal,’ Hasina said. As for the attacks on Khaleda’s convoy during campaign for her mayoral candidates in the Dhaka city polls, Hasina said that the BNP chairperson became a victim of people’s wrath due to her atrocities. She denied BNP’s allegation that the government had made a blue-print to ensure victory for their candidates in the city polls and said that the candidates would be elected by the people not by the government.
Hasina, also the Awami League president, said that it was the habit of the BNP chairperson and its founder Ziaur Rahman to rig votes and snatch the victory through violence. ‘We would accept any results in the city elections,’ she said, adding that the results would not have any reflection in the national elections. Hasina said that Khaleda was maintaining double standards by joining the local government elections under her government and demanding national elections under a caretaker government. She once again criticised the media for better coverage of Khaleda Zia’s programme saying that the media was doing injustice to the people by poor coverage of the ‘atrocities of Khaleda’ and the development activities of the government. Hasina said that Khaleda must face trial on charge of ordering killing of people. ‘Punishment must be given to those who killed people and were accused of ordering the killings of people,’ she said, adding that 579 activists of the BNP and the Jamaat were caught red-handed while they were hurling crude bombs or firebombs.’ The prime minister said that in the Asian-African Summit 2015 in Indonesia, Bangladesh could strengthen more bilateral relations with the countries of the two continents. LGRD and cooperatives minister Syed Ashraful Islam, agriculture minister Matia Chowdhury and information minister Hasanul Huq Inu foreign minister AH Mahmood Ali, among others, were present.
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