Khaleda behind BDR mutiny, she says
Awami League President and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday asked her party’s grassroots leaders to look at the Awami League symbol (Boat), not the face of the persons nominated in the next general election. “You must accept the persons whom we’ll nominate for the next election. If you don’t like that person, don’t look at his face; just see the symbol of the party… you must work unitedly for the party-nominated candidate,” she said in her introductory speech at a views-sharing meeting with grassroots level leaders at Ganobhaban.
Awami League leaders from different municipalities and upazilas of Sylhet, Khulna, Mymensing, Patuakhali, Noakhali and Narayanganj districts attended the meeting organised to select the party candidates for the next general elections.
Awami League leaders Satish Chandra Roy, Suranjit Sengupta, Kazi Jafarullah, Abdul Latif Siddiqui, Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Dr Abdur Razzaque and Mahbubul Alam Hanif were present on the dais.
The Awami League president said that the party will select the candidate for the next general election very carefully after considering all aspects. “I will request all to be united for seeking votes for the party-nominated candidates and increase the strength of the party.”
She said all the grassroots leaders, who were present in the meeting at Ganobhaban will each be given one form with ten questions. They will have to answer those questions and give three names for the next election as party candidate from their respective constituencies.
Hasina mentioned that the nomination will be finalised considering the suggestions from the grassroots level leaders and the surveys that were conducted earlier.
“You’ll have to write down three names; if anyone writes less then three names that form will be cancelled,” she said.
The Awami League president also said that this time the names of the candidates will be announced a bit earlier so that they could start their campaign conveniently.
Mentioning that this time the party will select an additional person as alternative candidate, she said: “We’ll sit with all nomination seekers and convince them all to work for the party nominated candidates.”
Hasina directly accused BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia of her involvement in the BDR mutiny and killing of 57 army officials on February 25-26, 2009.
“Surely, she (Khaleda) had a connection, she was responsible,” she said while speaking at a views-sharing meeting with grassroots level leaders of Awami League at her official residence Ganobhaban.
Awami League leaders from different municipalities and upazilas of Sylhet, Khulna, Mymensing, Patuakhali, Noakhali and Narayanganj districts attended the meeting, organised to select the party candidates for the next general election. Hasina, also the Awami League president, was also very critical of the lawyers of BNP and Jamaat as they are defending the accused in the BDR mutiny trial.
She alleged that just an hour before the mutiny, the opposition leader left her cantonment residence without any protocol for an unknown destination.
“She is the leader of the opposition and was entitled to avail official security. But, on that day, she left her home without any protocol and used a car with blackened glass. Nobody knew where she went,” Hasina said.
She mentioned that Khaleda Zia usually “gets up from bed not before 12 noon. But on that particular day, she got up from bed much earlier and left her cantonment house between 7:30am and 8am. She was untraced for couple of days… she also did not return to her cantonment house for one and a half month.” The Prime Minister said the “mystery of Khaleda Zia vanishing” from her residence is yet to be resolved and the opposition leader must answer these questions before the nation.
-With UNB/The Independent input
