GOPALGANJ, Aug 15 (BSS): Awami League (AL) General Secretary and LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam said Friday that the United States (US) and Canada have a double standard with regard to sending back the fugitive killers of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
"The United States and Canada are known for tall talks on different issues including human rights but capital punishment is being executed in the United States every month," he said.
Syed Ashraf was talking to reporters after attending a programme at Tungipara here on the occasion of the National Mourning Day marking the 39th anniversary of Bangabandhu's martyrdom.
The minister said initiatives have already been taken to bring back the fugitive killers of Bangabandhu, adding, "Sometimes we have to go slow in bringing killers back."
He expressed his optimism about executing the court's verdict handed down to the killers of Bangabandhu after bringing them back in due course of time.
Informing reporters that Colonel Rashid (one of the killers of Bangabandhu) has now been staying in the United States, Awami League presidium member and former health minister Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim said, "Efforts are on to bring back home other fugitive killers of Bangabandhu."
Speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad Dr Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury, Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu, Agriculture Minister Begum Matia Chowdhury, Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan, FBCCI president Kazi Akram Hossain, former minister Md Faruque Khan, MP, and Sheikh Kabir Hossain were present.
Ministers, leaders and workers of Awami League attended the milad and doa mahfil organised by the Cabinet Division and Gopalganj District Administration on the premises of Bangabandhu Mausoleum Complex here on the National Mourning Day.
Meanwhile, Awami League (AL) Joint General Secretary Mahbub-ul Alam Hanif said Friday that former President Ziaur Rahman should be tried posthumously for patronising killing of Bangabandhu from behind the scene.
"The government should hold trial of former president Ziaur Rahman by reinvestigating the Bangabandhu murder case," he said at a discussion meeting marking the National Mourning Day at WAPDA Building in the capital.
Sramik Karmachari League of Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) organised the programme with its president Molla M Abul Kalam Azad in the chair. Water Development Board's acting Director General Engineer Afzalur Rahman also spoke on the occasion.
Hanif said Ziaur Rahman had rewarded the killers of Bangabandhu and freed the people who were kept in prison on charge of acts against independence. "All these activities proved that Ziaur Rahman was involved in the killing," said Hanif.
Even Khaleda Zia, widow of former President Ziaur Rahman, has been observing her 'fake' birthday on August 15 since 1996 when the AL came to power and started the trial of Bangabandhu murder case after cancelling the Indemnity ordinance, he added.
