PM vows not to tolerate militancy

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expressed her firm determination to not tolerate any militancy and terrorism in the country.

She also accused the opposition, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia of tarnishing the image of the country by the killing foreigners staying in Bangladesh.

The premiere said this while addressing a public rally organized by Kurigram district Awami League at Kurigram Government College Ground this afternoon.

"There is no room for militancy, terrorism in Bangladesh and we don't want anybody to resort to such crimes. Rather we want everyone to lead a beautiful and peaceful life and we want to build the country this way," she said. 

Sheikh Hasina said Khaleda Zia has burnt over 150 people to death when she was in the country. "Now staying abroad, the BNP leader is conspiring to tarnish the country's image by killing foreigners living in Bangladesh," she added.

AL joint Secretary Dr Dipu Moni, Organizing Secretary Khalid Mahmood Chowdhury, versatile writer Syed Shamsul Haque and General Secretary of Kurigram District Awami League Jafar Ali addressed the rally, among others, while District AL President Aminul Islam Manju Mandal presided over it. 

Referring to the atrocities and mayhem unleashed by the BNP-Jamaat nexus in 2003 and the first three months of the current year, the Prime Minister said they are "beasts, not human beings" as they have burned numerous people to death and torched 2000 to 2500 buses as well as private cars and other running vehicles in the name of an anti-government movement.

"The BNP-Jamaat clique has created militancy and terrorism in the country and this evil force is continuing to unleash these crimes and nobody is spared by them," she said.

Sheikh Hasina also urged the youth community to give attention to study and refrain from drug addiction. "We are providing training for the youth through the Directorate of Youth Development, the Ministry of Expatriates Welfare and the Ministry of Labour and through it their self-employment will have to be created and we would not allow them to fall victim to drug addiction," she said.

Pointing out her government's impressive successes in different fields, the Prime Minister said Bangladesh is now a role model in the world. "But some people don't like it, they are hatching plots to destabilize the country's ongoing uplift," she said.

Mentioning resolution of the issue of enclaves with India, the Prime Minister said it is the Awami League government that resolved the long-standing problem.

"Bangabandhu had taken the initiative to solve the problem. But after his assassinations, the governments of Zia, Ershad and Khaleda Zia-none took any steps to resolve the matter," she said.

Through the implementation of the historic Land Boundary Agreement, she said 68-year-long deprivation of the enclave people has ended. 

Sheikh Hasina said the former enclaves are no more enclaves and those areas are a part of Bangladesh. "They are now citizens of Bangladesh and those who stayed beside them will have to treat them as near and dear ones," she said.

In this connection, the Prime Minister elaborated her government's various steps for the development of the former enclave people. "We have been implementing massive programmes for the welfare of the former enclave people," she said.