Awami League President and five-time Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has condemned that the killers of the usurper Yunus gang are labelled as July heroes by awarding them indemnity.
“All those who have committed murders since July 15 last year have been acquitted. Because there will be no trial for them. They are called July heroes. They entered and looted all the houses, killed people, raped women, and were killed by the police.
“There will be no trial for the police murder. Their relatives will die crying for justice because these are July heroes. They killed people, tied their legs and hung them from flyovers. They killed Awami League leaders and activists and hung them from trees. This is the brutal torture and this murder. The murderers have become July heroes,” she said during an online meeting.
She lamented that the Awami League is being branded as criminals despite its efforts to improve the livelihood of the people and boost Bangladesh’s economy. Rice was sold at subsidised prices for the poor, people got jobs, and labourers earned enough money to eat three to four meals a day.
“We have provided electricity to every home across Bangladesh. We generated 17,000-18,000 megawatts of electricity. And now my nuclear power plant is generating about 1,200 megawatts. New electricity is coming from other power plants.”
She also ridiculed the people who had criticised the Awami League government for importing electricity from India from Adani’s power plant. “Now this government is buying this electricity too. Why did you criticise earlier? Why is there a loadshedding problem again? We lit up every house, and Yunus Sahib has provided darkness in every house. Not only has the darkness of electric light decreased, but the people’s income has also decreased.
“People have no security. Girls have no rights. I even made arrangements so that girls can get jobs at primary schools and pursue higher education after passing the HSC. That facility has been cancelled. Why?”
Criticising Yunus for patronising the militants, Sheikh Hasina said that the radical Islamists are using loudspeakers in the villages, markets, and everywhere, prohibiting women from going outside.
“In a society where men and women are equal, if everyone does not work together, how can the country progress?
“There is no right to keep women at home in the name of Islam because the first person to accept Islam was a woman. When the Holy Prophet (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) was given the message of Islam and went to preach Islam, no man dared to come forward. The first to come was Bibi Khadija. She was a trader. She used to travel to different countries and foreign countries on a camelback. She used to trade. So, women accepted Islam first. What is their objection? What do they want to make of Bangladesh? A militant Taliban state? That Jamaat wants to bring war criminals to power.”
Sheikh Hasina also criticised the army chief, General Waker-uz-Zaman, for not defending the army officers wanted by the Jamaat-controlled International Crimes Tribunal (ICT-BD), which she termed illegal.
She slammed the Yunus-led administration for the humiliation of the serving and former army officers.
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“I am shocked at how the army is expected to hand these officers over to the law. Where is the law? There is no rule of law in this country. This government is illegitimate, and all its actions are unlawful. Why should these officers be surrendered to such a regime?” she stated.
Sheikh Hasina expressed concern that General Waker’s name might soon appear on the list of those targeted.
‘I salute you’
Sheikh Hasina condemned the ongoing murder and torture of Awami League leaders and activists, freedom fighters and judges in police custody, prisons and courts. They are denied bail and rearrested from the jail gate.
“Freedom fighters are being brought to the court in handcuffs. A former Chief Justice had his hands tied. Think about the future of those who are not stopping this.
“We have been repeatedly attacked. May Allah save us again. A grenade attack was launched on August 21, a bomb was planted in Kotalipara, and direct firing in Chittagong, Ishwardi, Pabna, and Satkhira. Wherever I went in Bangladesh, I faced murder attempts. Allah has saved me time and again. As He saved me, Allah surely has a will. I have to free this country from destruction again. The fate of the people has to change,” she said.
Addressing the leaders and activists of our Naoga district, she said that they had shown courage even after so much torture. “Our grassroots leaders and activists stood up after losing everything. I salute you.
“Look at Gopalganj, they did not care about life. They protested rightly. The power of the people is a great power.”
She asked the party workers to convey the message of the development of the Awami League to every house.
“Now, we have to repair the damage that has been done to the lives of the people…improve their economic condition, ensure their standard of living, provide security, continue our development pace, so that we can implement the visionary plan that Bangladesh will develop as a developing country and build a Smart Bangladesh by 2041.
“…so that we can achieve the UN SDGs. You all will work with that in mind. Get ready with whatever you have and stand against them. Now is the time to stand against them.”
“To save our country and nation from them, everyone must unite and move forward.”
She said that Allah saved her. “If I were in prison, I would not have been able to talk. And on that day, on August 5, their plan was to kill me and Rehana. They planned not only to simply shoot us, but also to kill us with extreme humiliation.”
Sheikh Hasina said that she had worked to put food in the mouths of the people, change the fate of the people, improve the living standards of the people of the country, and light a lamp in every house. She added that neither her sister nor her children got anything from her.
“I am doing this for the people of Bangladesh. Because I have taken the people of Bangladesh as my family. That way, every person, regardless of party affiliation, has received social security. That too has been stopped [by the interim government]. Old age allowance, widow allowance, disabled allowance, freedom fighter allowance, all have been stopped.”
Deploring the plight of the poor people, Sheikh Hasina said: “We used to give food to the poor for free, that too has been stopped. Today, human corpses are lying in dustbins and garbage dumps. They look like skeletons…it seems like they haven’t had food for a long time.
“This situation was not there when the Awami League was in power. Only the Awami League can change the fate of the people of Bangladesh and ensure the country’s progress. Because the Awami League liberated this country. We walk with the ideals of Bangabandhu. We walk with his spirit. We have a responsibility to the people.”
But those who usurped power have no responsibility, Sheikh Hasina said. They came to loot; they will loot. Don’t you see, within two or three days, two or four months, everyone becomes rich, owning thousands of takas, wearing expensive shoes and expensive dresses.
“And then they sit and show off their shoes. They can’t move without an expensive car. We didn’t do that. We lived with the common people.”
In her concluding remarks, the daughter of Bangabandhu asked everyone to unite and free the country from injustice.
She said: “Do not forget the faces of those who burned your houses and tortured you. Remember everyone, and teach them a lesson whenever you can. They must be taught a lesson. The country must be protected. The people of the country must be protected. This is our promise. In the spirit of the Liberation War, Bangladesh will move forward. It will be developed and prosperous.”
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