Awami League (AL) Joint Secretary and Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud today said Ziaur Rahman was a traitor and he was involved in the assassination of Bangabandhu and his family members.
“But BNP leaders have been constantly denying Zia’s role. They try to make Zia, a villain, into a hero. Ziaur Rahman was basically a murderer and a traitor,” he said, addressing a discussion on National Mourning Day, organized by Chattogram north district AL at city’s Theater Institute this noon.
Urging the BNP leaders to quit the politics of murderers and traitors, Dr Hasan said the mask of Ziaur Rahman will be unveiled before the nation.
Chattogram North District AL President and District Council Chairman MA Salam presided over the meeting while its vice presidents Abul Kalam Azad, ATM Pearul Islam, Mohiuddin Rashed and party leaders Abul Kashem Chisti, Nurul Anwar Chowdhury Bahar, Engineer Mohammad Harun, Pradeep Ranjan Chakraborty, Iftekhar Hossain Babul and Dilwara Yousuf, among others, addressed the function.
“I firmly believe that if a fair political system needs to be introduced in Bangladesh and for this, the history and politics of the country must be cleansed. The politics of war criminals need to be banned too. At the same time, those who underestimated the role of Bangabandhu and try to question Bangabandhu also need to stop their politics in this country. Those who do politics in favour of a murderer and a traitor should not have the right to do politics in the country,” he opined.
Dr Hasan questioned whether anyone could do politics by downplaying the role of Mahatma Gandhi in India, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah in Pakistan and Judge Washington in the United States.
“But in our country, even after 50 years of independence, the role of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu is denied,” he added.
He said, “If Bangabandhu was not assassinated on 15 August 1975, Bangladesh would have been a developed and prosperous country within 15 years of independence.”
Dr Hasan said that the wheels of country’s progress were pushed back through corruption and misrule after the assassination of Bangabandhu.
“Ziaur Rahman was involved in killing hundreds of officers and soldiers of armed forces after grabbing power and established a reign of ‘killing’ and ‘curfew’ in the country. But, after committing such crimes he could not protect himself,” he said.
Zia had rehabilitated the killers of Bangabandhu at home and abroad and gave them jobs at missions, he added.
The minister said that Zia did everything so that the killers of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman were not tried, Dr Hasan said, adding Zaiur Rahman and his family members were the most beneficiaries of the Bangabandhu assassination.
The minister said that the country has risen to a new height under the dynamic leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Bangladesh is moving forward at an indomitable pace on the path of fulfilling Bangabandhu’s dream.
He said the per capita income now stands at $ 2227. Besides, the country left behind Pakistan in all indexes and neighboring India in some indexes, he added.
Dr Hasan said many months and weeks have passed in lockdown during in the last one and a half years, but not a single person died of starvation in this land. Bangabandhu’s daughter Sheikh Hasina has proved wrong the fears of many midnight television intellectuals, he added.
Dr Hasan said that no barefoot people can be seen in the country now and no unclothed people can also be found here.
“This is the changed Bangladesh. It didn’t happen because of any magic. This change happened due to the magical leadership of Bangabandhu’s daughter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,” he added.bss