Sajeeb Wazed Joy, son of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, on Tuesday slammed the main Opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) for “unleashing brutal attacks on the common people” in the name of observing hartals during the last couple of weeks. “Whatever I saw today was truly horrifying. I cannot believe that a political party could unleash such barbaric attacks on ordinary people,” Sajeeb Wazed Joy told reporters at Dhaka Medical College Hospital after visiting the patients, who had sustained severe injuries in arson attacks during the countrywide hartals enforced by the BNP-led 18-Party Alliance.
Describing the main Opposition BNP as a party of “terrorists”, Joy, who is also the information technology (IT) affairs adviser to the Prime Minister, said, “The BNP is not a political party but a band of terrorists.”
“Those in the BNP, who kill people by torching them in the name of political programmes and hartals, cannot be part of the human race,” said a visibly emotional Joy. Watching the heavily-bandaged victims writhing in pain, he said, “They should be punished heavily.”
Replying to a question, the Prime Minister’s son said the government has not failed to ensure security for the people of the country. Those who were involved in such brutal attacks on the common people must be brought to justice.
Over the frequent general strikes enforced by the BNP in the last couple of weeks, Sajeeb Wazed Joy said, “This is neither hartal nor protest, it is simply terrorism. No one has the political right to unleash terrorism in the name of observing hartal programmes.”
In response to another question, Sajeeb Wazed Joy said he has never ever seen the country in such a condition after the Liberation War in 1971.
He also narrated the harrowing tale of eight-year-old Sumi, who sustained severe burn injuries in an arson attack by pro-hartal activists during the BNP-Jamaat sponsored shutdowns.
Sajeeb Wazed Joy was scheduled to attend a meet-the-press programme at 3pm at party president Sheikh Hasina’s Dhanmondi political office. But the programme was shifted to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital’s burn unit, where he visited the hartal victims.
There he did not take any question other than those related to hartal violence.
-With The Independent input
