Awami League Is 'the Biggest Party of Thieves in World History,' Says Speaker Hafiz Uddin

National Parliament Speaker Major (Retd) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed, Bir Bikram, has described the Awami League as the biggest party of thieves in the history of the world. He said the current government will take action against the corrupt through the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

He made the remarks on Tuesday (20 October) at noon while speaking as chief guest at a mass reception at Lalmohan Upazila Parishad in Bhola, organised after his election as chairman of the Asia-Pacific Group of the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU). The event was organised by the upazila and municipal BNP and its affiliated organisations.

The Speaker said the Awami League had thought it would loot and stay in power until doomsday, and had believed its life would pass that way. He alleged that its leaders fled the country with thousands of crores of taka.

He said many Awami League leaders have been punished over killings committed during the interim government's tenure, and noted that a court has also ordered the death penalty for Sheikh Hasina.

Turning to the current situation, the Speaker said every person now has freedom of speech and people can criticise the government and the head of government.

He noted that after an allegation of occupying a hospital was raised against a woman member of parliament, the prime minister ordered her to resign. He also said Minister of State Ishraq Hossain has resigned.

On Ishraq Hossain, the Speaker said he had done good work in suppressing drug dealers who fired on police, but taking up arms himself was not right. For that reason, he said, the prime minister ordered him to resign.

Noting that no party in the past had taken such action against its own MPs and ministers, he said such steps became possible because of Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's uncompromising stance.

Hafiz Uddin Ahmed said those who looted the country over the past 15 to 17 years have now taken shelter in a neighbouring state. He alleged that, sitting abroad, they are conspiring against the current government.

He also alleged that they are spreading false propaganda claiming Hindus are being persecuted in Bangladesh. He claimed Durga Puja is now being held in Bangladesh, with more pujas this year than last year, and that there are no problems anywhere.

Criticising the Awami League's rule further, he said the history of theft it left behind should never be repeated. He said the party looted the country's money and built huge wealth abroad, while the country's farmers, burning in the sun and soaking in the rain to grow crops, could not even eat properly.

Present at the event were Lalmohan Upazila Nirbahi Officer Md Sifat Bin Sadek, Additional Superintendent of Police Satyajit Kumar Ghosh, Lalmohan police station Officer-in-Charge Nazrul Islam Mojumdar, Upazila BNP President Md Zafar Iqbal, General Secretary Safiqul Islam Babul, and leaders and activists of the BNP and its affiliated organisations.

The Speaker's remarks come at a time when action against the corrupt and the resignations of the ruling side's own MPs and ministers are at the centre of political discussion. Attention will now be on what steps the government takes through the ACC.