Md. Sulaiman, Bhola
Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was the world’s best “villain actress,” Bangladesh National Parliament Speaker and Bhola-3 constituency lawmaker Major (Retd.) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed Bir Bikram has said.
He alleged that Sheikh Hasina used to invite the relatives of people who had allegedly been subjected to enforced disappearance to Ganabhaban and console their wives and children. At the same time, he claimed, she concealed a “violent mindset” linked to enforced disappearances.
Major Hafiz made the remarks as the chief guest at a discussion meeting held at the Lalmohan Upazila Auditorium at 11am on Saturday. The meeting was organized by Lalmohan civil society with leaders and activists of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) and its affiliated organizations.
Lalmohan Upazila BNP President Zafar Iqbal chaired the meeting, while its General Secretary Shafiqul Islam Babul moderated it.
Major Hafiz said Sheikh Hasina used to assure the families of those who had disappeared that their relatives would be brought back. He claimed that Sheikh Hasina herself knew where the disappeared people were being held. He described her acts of consoling the families as a form of “acting.”
He further claimed that testimony and evidence presented before the International Crimes Tribunal had now made the matter clear to the public. According to his allegation, Sheikh Hasina was the person who ordered the enforced disappearances.
Major Hafiz also alleged that a barrister had been kept handcuffed and detained in an “Aynaghar” for eight years, where he was subjected to brutal treatment. He said the person was released after Sheikh Hasina left the country and is now a member of parliament.
Speaking about alleged corruption during the previous government, Major Hafiz said a pillow had been priced at Tk 60,000 and a curtain at Tk 42,000 in the Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant project.
He also claimed that a former state minister for land owned 360 houses in London. He alleged that money had been misappropriated without properly implementing various development projects.
On local politics in Lalmohan, Major Hafiz alleged that the local lawmaker during the previous government was a “top terrorist and killer.”
He claimed that during the 2010 by-election, criminals were brought from Dhaka and attacked the homes of his supporters in broad daylight, injuring them with machetes and vandalizing their houses.
Major Hafiz further said his chief election coordinator at the time, former Bhola-4 lawmaker Nazim Uddin Alam, was beaten and injured. He claimed that although he went to the hospital to see Alam, he was unable to enter the hospital.
At the concluding stage of the meeting, Major (Retd.) Hafiz Uddin Ahmed asked people from his constituency whether they were satisfied with his performance as acting president and Speaker of the National Parliament.
The participants were then asked to express their opinion through a “yes-or-no” vote in a parliamentary-style format. The “yes” vote won, and the meeting concluded amid applause from the attendees.
FP/A
