The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, has alleged that the previous caretaker government had captured power through the much-talked-about 1/11 episode in the wake of vote rigging plot by the BNP.
‘The country saw the episode like 1/11 due to the vote rigging plot by the BNP,’ she said while exchanging views with the grassroots-level leaders and activists of Chaundanga district unit of the Awami League at the prime minister’s official residence Ganabhaban Sunday.
During the 2001-2006 tenure of the BNP-Jamaat alliance, the prime minister said, they (BNP-Jamaat) had taken all preparations for vote rigging.
She termed the 2001-2006 period the ‘Disastrous tenure of the BNP’ while the following caretaker government another ‘Disastrous tenure of caretaker’ for the country.
The prime minister also strongly criticised the caretaker government for oppressing many people, including politicians, businessmen, teachers and students, through filling cases against them during its two-year tenure.
Taking a swipe at the opposition, she alleged that the nature of the BNP is burning sleeping people to death in buses and protecting and nurturing killers.
In a scathing attack on the opposition leader, Khaleda Zia, Hasina said various strategies were there under Khaleda’s plan to save the war criminals. ‘Her movement is aimed at saving the war criminals.’
Mentioning that the opposition leader herself had resorted to corruption, whitened black money and embezzled orphanage fund, the prime minister said, ‘If these incidents of graft do not come under trial, then what else we’ll try?’
Hasina said the opposition leader did not like the trial process of the war criminals as Khaleda had made one of the killers of Mujib a parliament member from Chuadanga through vote rigging.  ‘She (Khaleda) also made Colonel Rashid a parliament member from Comilla.
It proves how kind she was to the killers of Bangabandhu.’
As the Awami League believes in people’s empowerment, the premier said, over 5,000 different elections had so far been held peacefully during the tenure of the present government. ‘There was no occurrence of trouble, no one was killed either…people cast their votes according to their will.’
Referring to the comments of an opposition leader on the arrest of 18-party leaders, Hasina said after the killing of Mujib, numerous numbers of AL leaders and workers, including Sajeda Chowdhury, were arrested, remanded and oppressed in jail during 1975-79 period when Ziaur Rahman was in power.
After 1991, she said, during the tenure of the BNP, more leaders, including former president Ershad, his wife Rawshan Ershad, Anwar Hossain Manju, were arrested. ‘The then BNP government also oppressed and killed many AL leaders and activists. Even late Jahanara Imam also had to experience baton charge by the
police. How the politicians and civil society lost those incidents from their minds?’
She also asked the media to collect the list on how many people were arrested at a time at that period.
After 2001, the premier said, the BNP had also created a den of terrorism in the country through creating ‘Bangla Bhai’ and unleashing extremism, killing, bombing and militancy. She said it needed to be counted how many people were killed every day during BNP’s tenure since 2001 in ‘Operation Clean Heart’ in various terrorist activities and in crossfire.
The prime minister also urged her party leaders and activists to strengthened the party and project the development activities of the present government among the common people.
She also renewed her strong resolve to build a hunger-and poverty-free ‘Sonar Bangla’ as dreamt by Sheikh Mujibur Rahman by the year 2021 when the country would be observing its golden jubilee of independence.
Since assuming power in 2008, the AL chief said, her government had been working tirelessly for ensuring the country’s development and the welfare of its people by curbing militancy and terrorism. ‘The drive against corruption is still on.’
AL presidium members Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Kazi Jafarullah and joint general secretary Mahbub-ul-Alam Hanif were present on the occasion.