Hasina vows to restore peace by eliminating militancy

By Mizan Rahman/DhakaAsserting that it is the duty of her government to ensure the security of life and property, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday vowed to restore peace by eliminating militancy and terrorism. “People want peace, so, there is no place for terrorists and militants in the country. we have to ensure peace at any cost so that the people of Bangladesh can live a safe and peaceful life,” she said. She was addressing the 35th National Rally of Bangladesh Ansar and Village Defence Party (VDP) at Ansar-VDP Academy at Shafipur in northern Tangail district. Hasina alleged that when the country is moving ahead in all fields, the Bangladesh Nationalist Party-Jamaat-e-Islami clique has started burning people to death and causing damage to public property by unleashing subversion through general strikes and blockade. She said those who pursue these tactics are the enemies of the country. “We’ll have to maintain the pace of development,” she said renewing her pledge to build a hunger- and poverty-free middle-income country by 2021 and a prosperous developed one by 2041. She said the “evil force” of BNP-Jamaat has started killing people again the way they did before the January 5, 2014 election. “In the name of politics, they’re torching buses and trucks and burning innocent people alive with petrol bombs.” “Are they human beings or devils?” she asked saying their activities are nothing but terrorism and militancy. Hasina said all the victims of petrol bomb attacks are innocent people. “They’re bus and truck drivers and marginal people. The lives of toiling masses have no value to BNP chief Khaleda Zia.” She said that the BNP-Jamaat talks about religion but they called general strike during the Biswa Ijtema (World Muslim Assembly) in Bangladesh. They have also threatened the future of 1.5mn school students. The prime minister said it is the sacred responsibility of the government to protect the lives and property of people and this why it has deployed the auxiliary security force Ansar alongside police, Rapid Action Battalion and Border Guard Bangladesh personnel to curb subversive activities on highways and railways.Hasina said some 8,328 Ansar members have so far been deployed at 1,041 points on the railway. Twelve Ansar members are also being deployed at 993 points on highways. The destruction of property declined remarkably after the deployment of Ansar to protect Bangladesh Railway, Hasina said adding that they have showed the highest level of patriotism and courage.She praised the role of Ansar members in protecting the property of Bangladesh Railway before the general elections when the country was reeling after unprecedented acts of sabotage by BNP and Jamaat men. The prime minister alleged that the BNP and Jamaat have unleashed vandalism when Bangladesh is on the road to robust economic growth and the living condition of the people is improving. Hasina, however, kept mum over holding of dialogue with the 20-party opposition alliance, as sought by the United Nations, the United States and the European Union.Meanwhile confrontational politics has taken a dangerous turn with rival political activists outside the capital attacking homes and killing people. An activist of the ruling Awami League’s youth front was hacked to death by unidentified miscreants at Sapmara village in Gobindaganj sub-district of Gaibandhah district, a report reaching Dhaka yesterday night said. The deceased was identified as Abdul Hamid, a resident of Krishnapur village. Quoting locals, police said a gang of miscreants waylaid Hamid while he was returning home from Sapmara village on a motorcycle. Locals spotted Hamid’s body in the morning and informed police. Miscreants also threw several crude bombs at the house of the BNP chairperson’s adviser Abdul Awal Mintoo and set afire one of its rooms at Alaipur village in Dagonbhuiyan sub-district in Feni district on Wednesday night. Witnesses said a group of miscreants hurled crude bombs and fire at the house of Mintu, also Dhaka city BNP joint convener, at about 11pm. They also set fire to a tin-shed room of the house. Later, local people doused the blaze. No one was hurt in the attack. A bomb attack during a BNP-Jamaat-e-Islami blockade in Mymensingh has left two police personnel injured. A young blockader sustained bullet wounds in police firing at Mamunnagar, Gouripur police chief Mohamed Ali Sheikh said. Injured police personnel sub-inspector Masud Jamali and constable Bachchu Mia were given first aid. The injured blockader Sohag was admitted to Mymensingh Medical College and Hospital. The police officer said the miscreants blocked a road at Mamunnagar in a sabotage bid. Police rushed to thwart them. Blockade supporters started to hurl bombs on the policemen as they arrived, forcing them to fire, Sheikh said. Food shipments to Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) leaders and office staff of party chief Khaleda Zia’s Gulshan office have been stopped by police personnel. They have been surviving on dry food since Wednesday night. “We were also not allowed to bring in breakfast and lunch to the  Gulshan office till 2:30pm today,” said Shamsuddin Dider, a member of the BNP chief’s media wing. “They are living on dates and puffed rice,” he told newsmen yesterday. Earlier, law enforcers deployed in front of Khaleda’s office Wednesday night did not allow a rickshaw-van carrying food and mineral water bottles for party leaders and other officials to enter the office.The three-wheeler, which was carrying dinner boxes and water bottles for around 70 people including some senior BNP leaders, reached the office gate at 8pm. However food for the BNP chief was allowed through.About 120 packets of food and water are being brought twice a day from local hotels since January 5 for the office staff, he added. The BNP chairperson has been staying inside the office since the beginning of the ongoing blockade programme with her officials. Later, law enforcers reportedly took the van to Gulshan Police Station.