Rizvi asks Hasina: why seek help from foreigners to return home?
Why is ousted prime minister Sheikh Hasina seeking help from foreigners to return to the country? This question was raised by BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi Ahmed.
He made the remarks while speaking as the chief guest at a discussion meeting organised by the Zia Parishad at the Kazi Nazrul Islam auditorium of the National Press Club in Dhaka on Monday, marking the historic 7 November National Revolution and Solidarity Day.
Rizvi said Sheikh Hasina had made mistakes, but she had no remorse. He asked, with what shame is she applying for a passport and a national identity card? Does she think she will return to the country, re-establish fascism, and the people will sit and watch?
He said Sheikh Hasina was trying to obtain certificates from various foreign political figures so that the sentences against her would not be carried out if she returned. He asked: you used to say so much, so why are you now seeking help from foreigners?
Rizvi said Begum Khaleda Zia had been kept in jail through false cases. At that time, the law minister and Awami League leaders used to say that the court moves at its own pace and the law moves at its own pace. Now, in Sheikh Hasina's case too, the law and the courts will move at their own pace, he said.
He said Sheikh Hasina wants to return to the country. But who will receive her? Abu Sayeed's mother, Mugdha's father, or Ahnaf's relatives? Will the family members of the martyrs — whose children were killed, who lost their lives to bullets — receive her?
He said so many young people, children, rickshaw-pullers and workers had given their lives. The stains of their blood have not yet been washed away. If Sheikh Hasina thinks she can forget that sacrifice, return to the country and restart fascism while the people sit and watch, she will be wrong, he said.
Recalling the historic context of 7 November, Rizvi said democracy in the country had been destroyed between 1972 and 1975. Political parties were banned and newspapers were shut down. All newspapers except four were closed. People's freedom of speech and expression was taken away.
He said the main spirit of the Liberation War was democracy. The people of this country jumped into the struggle for freedom because the Pakistanis did not want to hand over power to the majority party. Yet those who came to power after independence also oppressed the people. The atrocities and repression by the Rakkhi Bahini were also horrific, he said.
He said Ziaur Rahman came to the centre of national politics through the mass awakening of 7 November. Rizvi noted that he had been arrested on 3 November.
