Sheikh Hasina said on Wednesday that if the Awami League came to power again, one school and one college in each upazila would be nationalised.
Addressing a large rally at Roopur in Pabna, the Prime Minister criticised Khaleda Zia for not willing to accept her as the head of the interim government. Referring to the grenade attack on her on August 21, 2004, Sheikh Hasina said: “I know she will not accept me. Begum Zia has made repeated attempts to annihilate me. She makes a mockery of the National Mourning Day by celebrating her birthday with pomp. She even rewarded the killers of Bangabandhu and four national leaders by giving them foreign postings and making them members of Parliament.”
Urging countrymen to vote for her party, the Prime Minister, who is also president of the Awami League, said if the BNP and its allies come to power, they would stop many development and welfare projects undertaken by the present government for socio-economic development.
“Militancy and terrorism will raise their heads again,” she said, adding that the BNP suspended the trial of war criminals and gave indulgence to the killers of Bangabandhu and perpetrators of genocide in 1971.
Terming the inauguration of the construction of the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant as a historic event, the Prime Minister said the nation had to wait for more than six decades for the project. The project has finally got a push as the Awami League is in power, she said.
Sheikh Hasina said people get food, shelter, jobs and healthcare services, as well as access to education, if the Awami League is in power. On the other hand, food production decreases and life expectancy falls when the BNP comes to power, she said.
The Pabna district unit of the Awami League organised the rally at the ground adjacent to the Rooppur Nuclear Power Project. The president of the AL’s Pabna district unit, Shamsur Rahman Sharif Dilu, MP, presided over the meeting, while party presidium member Mohammad Nasim, planning minister Air Vice Marshal (retd) AK Khandakar, AL joint secretary Mahbub-ul Alam Hanif, foreign minister Dr. Dipu Moni, state minister for home Shamsul Haque Tuku and AL advisory council member Mirza Abdul Jalil addressed the gathering.
Sheikh Hasina said that instead of paying attention to the country’s development, the BNP and its allies were busy with corruption, intimidating political opponents, killing and arson and transferring ill-gotten money abroad.
BSS adds: “They killed many popular Awami League leaders, including former finance minister SAMS Kibria, Ahsanullah Master and Ivy Rahman, in a reign of terror, and their corruption knew no bounds. That is why Begum Zia had to turn her black money into white by paying a penalty,” the Prime Minister said.
Pointing out the situation in the power sector during the BNP regime, she said the overall power generation decreased to 3,200 MW from 4,300 MW. But they looted around Tk. 980 crore from nationalised banks in the name of development of the sector, she said.
The Prime Minister said: “People should keep in mind that their progress takes place only when the Awami League is in power. We have to go to the people for their mandate and make them understand why they should vote for the party. People should vote for the Awami League because poverty declines when the party comes to power. The Awami League has given books to students free of cost. Scholarships and stipends are being given to students of secondary and higher secondary levels. A trust fund has been created to support students for higher studies.”
The BNP spread the false information that thousands of Hefazat workers were killed at Shapla Chattar on May 5, 2013. At the instigation of BNP leaders, they burnt thousands of copies of the Holy Quran.
Sheikh Hasina said Islam is better served when the Awami League is in power. It has implemented the project for expansion of the Baitul Mokarram National Mosque. But BNP, Jamaat and Hefazat hooligans have destroyed the sanctity of the mosque by using it as their political shelter.
The Prime Minister said the BNP carried out a campaign that all Imams and Moazzins were killed, so no Azan will be heard from mosques and there is no one alive to conduct the janaza. But after the incident, Muslims are performing their religious rites as usual, she said.
Sheikh Hasina said the BNP-Jamaat had unleashed a similar campaign before the 1996 general election. They said “ulu”, instead of Azan, will be heard from all mosques if the Awami League comes to power. But their propaganda was proven false. Muslims performed all religious rites in a better religious environment. Their claim that Bangladesh would be part of India was also proven false.
-With The Independent input
