Prime minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday said that Bangladesh Nationalist Party chairperson Khaleda Zia would pay for her mistake by not joining the January 5 general elections.
Sheikh Hasina alleged that the BNP-Jamaat was carrying out subversive acts as their movement to resist the election had failed.
Addressing a rally at a school ground in Satkhira, she assured the locals that the ongoing operation by the joint forces in Satkhira would continue as long as required to eliminate militants and terrorists and restore law and order in the district.
‘She [Khaleda Zia] will pay for her mistake by not contesting the elections,’ said Hasina, also the president of Awami League.
‘They not only boycotted the election but called for resistance, enforced blockades, hartals, unleashed terror, killed people and carried out arson attacks, but people cast their votes and we have formed the government,’ the prime minister added.
BNP did not join the election as its ally Jamaat could not participate in the polls due to a High Court order and Khaleda Zia boycotted the election to maintain her alliance with the Jamaat, she said.
Sheikh Hasina said the BNP chairperson was still trying to save the war criminals. ‘I doubt if she [Khaleda Zia] believes in independent Bangladesh. Her heart remains with her beloved Pakistan,’ she added.
The 10th general election was boycotted by most of the political parties, including BNP and its allies. Awami League and its allies contested the polls.
Hasina said that those who had killed people and destroyed their houses and businesses would be tracked down wherever they take shelter. The culprits would not be spared.
Calling upon the people of Satkhira to muster the courage and strength and live without fear, she warned that the government would not tolerate violence by the BNP-Jamaat anymore.
A joint force of police, RAB and Border Guard Bangladesh has been carrying out operation in the district since December, to restore law and order following a spate of violence in Satkhira, known as a stronghold of Jamaat-e-Islami. Awami League leaders claimed that at least 16 of their activists were killed by BNP-Jamaat men in this district since February 28, 2013, after the International Crimes Tribunal handed down death sentence to war crimes convict Delwar Hossain Sayedee.
Jamaat men virtually separated the district from the rest of the country after October 25 when the opposition intensified their movement for polls under a caretaker government.
They killed AL activists, attacked Hindus, burnt their houses, cut off road links and even law enforcement personnel could not escape their wrath, said locals.
Jamaat leaders claimed that at least 23 people were killed during the joint forces’ operation and in police firing during protests against the ICT verdicts, blockades and general strikes.
Awami League presidium member and health minister Mohammad Nasim told the rally that the government would stay in power for full five years. ‘The government will not leave office even one day before its tenure ends,’ he said.
State minister for home Asaduzzamn Khan warned that all necessary actions would be taken to maintain law and order in the district. ‘Law enforcers will be tough as much as needed’.
AL leaders Mahbubul Alam Hanif, Dipu Moni, BM Mozammel and Workers Party president Rashed Khan Menon, among others, addressed the rally.
Hasina earlier arrived in the town by helicopter and inaugurated 11 development projects. She also distributed cheques among the families of the AL activists who were killed in violence unleashed by BNP-Jamaat.
