FE REPORT
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) senior joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi said on Saturday that neighbouring country India should respect independence and sovereignty of Bangladesh.
"During Sheikh Hasina's rule, none could even utter a sound against her misrule. Sheikh Hasina didn't bother what Bangladeshi people wanted and what not," he told the media after offering doa and placing a wreath on the grave of BNP founder and former President Ziaur Rahman at Sher-e-Bangla Nagar in the capital marking the 21st founding anniversary of Nurses Association of Bangladesh.
"She (Sheikh Hasina) pushed the public against the wall to such an extent that it compelled them (people) to get united and they came on the streets and ousted her from power," he said.
"Sheikh Hasina had oppressed and killed country's people and confined them to Aina Ghar years after years," he added.
"She ruled the country by using police and used the force for killings and enforced disappearance of the opponents," he stated.
"But the people came on the streets that led to her government's fall," he continued.
Mr Rizvi further said that people of Bangladesh have driven Sheikh Hasina from power like what they did against the British in 1947 and Pakistani occupation forces in 1971.
He said that Indian defence minister Rajnath Singh's meeting with armed forces commanders last week in Lucknow of India raised a question to the public (Bangladeshi) mind that whether it was a sign of instigating or not.
Earlier speaking at the maiden Joint Commanders' Conference in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, India last week Mr Singh referred to the ongoing Russia-Ukraine, Israel-Hamas conflicts and the current unstable situation in Bangladesh.
He exhorted the commanders to analyse these episodes, predict the problems that the country may face in the future, and stay prepared to deal with the "unexpected".
"Have you (India) started working to reclaim her (Sheikh Hasina) Jamindari? If not then why the defence minster talked such way,?" Mr Rizvi questioned.
Indicating India, he said, "The people of Bangladesh are now taking breath freely after toppling a monster like fascist Sheikh Hasina. Now there is no chance about anyone's arrest or becoming victim of enforced disappearances."
"Now people of Bangladesh could live and sleep peacefully. Don't you (India) like to see that (live and sleep peacefully)? Don't the Indian policymakers like to see democracy restored in Bangladesh and people live peacefully,?" he stated.
"Aren't the Indian policymakers accepting the reality in Bangladesh sans Sheikh Hasina? We respect India's independence and sovereignty and similarly India should also respect our (Bangladesh) independence and sovereignty," he continued.
"If you (India) maintain communication with a person or a particular political party then the people of Bangladesh will never accept that. The people of Bangladesh know how to bear oppression for long time and at the same time they also know how to get united and fight collectively against external occupation forces. India should remember that Bangladesh is a country of brave people," he said with a note of warning.
Assistant nurses' affairs secretary of BNP and also president of NAB Jahanara Begum, health affairs secretary of the party Dr Md Rafiqul Islam and central leader of Swechchhasebak Dal Arifur Rahman Tushar were present, among others.
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