Staff correspondent
The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, on Wednesday urged the students to be attentive to their studies, devote themselves to the development of the country and refrain from getting involved in crimes, extortion and violence in the name of student politics.
‘The students will need to go by rules and regulations. The students who will violate laws and get involved in extortion and violence will be arrested and expelled from the organisation,’ said Hasina as she addressed a Bangladesh Chhatra League reunion in Paltan Maidan.
The ruling Awami League’s associate body of students organised the reunion marking its 61st founding anniversary
Before Hasina, who is also the Awami League president, reached there, several hundred Chhatra League activists had clashed for an hour when they threw chairs at each other.
Chhatra League activists of the Dhaka College and Titumir College units first clashed over who would sit close to the stage.
Former Chhatra League leaders and the law enforcers controlled the students. The clash began at about 11:00am, when the prime minister was scheduled to reach the programme, but the clash delayed her arrival till about 12:50pm.
Standing behind a bullet-proof shield, Hasina said, ‘I asked the students to keep peace and they followed my directive. And the leaders of the Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, the student wing of the opposition BNP, observed the founding anniversary of organisation by cutting cakes in Madhu’s Canteen in Dhaka University only two days after the national elections.’
‘If the BNP had won the elections, could Chhatra League activists have gone to Madhu’s canteen?’ she said.
Hasina said Chhatra League activists would be controlled, but no excesses by any other organisations would also be tolerated.
Without referring to media reports on Chhatra League infighting in Jahangirnagar University, Hasina said, ‘People had not forgotten what happened after the October 1, 2001 general elections. But the media then did not run reports on the incidents considering that the new government should be given a year to set things on the right track. But now they do not want to give us only a month.’
‘I want to tell the newspapers that during the BNP-led alliance government, 21,000 Awami League leaders and activist were killed, pieces of land grabbed and residence halls of students captured,’ she said, urging the media to compare the present situation with that after the 2001 elections neutrally and honestly.
Hasina said the media should now take the responsibility of returning the pieces of land grabbed during the BNP-led government to the owners.
‘During the Awami League’s previous term, a journalist was harassed and then the newspapers strongly protested at the incident, but during the BNP-led coalition government, 14 journalists were killed, but then the media were not so vocal against such incidents,’ Hasina said. ‘Why is this discrimination? I can understand.’
‘In fact, after failing to implement the ‘minus two’ theory, they [the media] have now started giving vent to their anger directed towards us,’ she said.
She said it would not be ethical for anyone to think that everything could be done in a month as the government has no magic lamp.
As for power generation, she said the past government had not added a single megawatt of power and the people would need to wait for two to three years for fresh power generation.
Hasina was also critical of the immediate-past military-controlled interim government saying it had set out well, but it failed in its mission because of its pursuance of the ‘minus two’ formula.
She, however, thanked the caretaker administration for preparing an appropriate electoral roll and holding the elections in a free and fair manner.
She urged the party leaders and activists to be aware of the people who always want to join the party in power. ‘Do not give them any such scope as they will create trouble after their joining… We cannot take the responsibility for such elements. We need no more activists as we have people’s mandate,’ she said.
Hasina told the Chhatra League leaders and activist that the conference of the organisation would be held soon and genuine students would be in the leadership through elections by ballot.
She inaugurated the ceremony by hoisting the national and the party flag and releasing balloons and white pigeons into the air.
Ministers, top party leaders and former Chhatra League presidents and secretaries attended the programme.
The Chhatra League president, Mahmud Hasan Ripon, who presided over the reunion, said the organisation activists were involved in all the movements in the past and they would continue to do so in the coming days under the directive of their leader Sheikh Hasina.
He also said there was no conflict among the Chhatra League leaders and activists and they all were united under Hasina’s leadership.
The Chhatra League general secretary, Mahafuz Haider Chowdhury Roton, conducted the programme.
Courtesy of www.newagebd.com
