The prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, on Sunday, accused the opposition
leader, Khaleda Zia of committing genocide saying that the BNP chief was
instructing arsonists to kill people in the name of agitation.
‘She [Khaleda] lives a luxurious life and from her cosy, air-conditioned
house, she is instructing her men to kill people. She is committing
genocide by directing her men to kill people in arson attacks,’ Hasina
said.
Talking to reporters at the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital
after visiting the victims of arson during the opposition’s strikes and
blockades, the prime minister said the way BNP and its ally Jamaat were
killing innocent people by carrying out arson attacks and removing rail
tracks was nothing but ‘genocide’ and it could never be called
‘politics’ or
‘movement’. ‘It is absolute terrorism,’ she added.
Condemning the mindless arson, Hasina urged Khaleda to stop killing
innocent people, including bus drivers and passengers. ‘The opposition
leader is in the habit of playing with the lives of the people… I would
urge her to stop such cruelties,’ she said.
The prime minister warned that the government would take sterner action
against the people who were carrying out such heinous attacks. ‘Action
will also be taken against those who are instructing and instigating
such crimes. ‘We will not tolerate if she [Khaleda] orders killing of
people.’
Referring to her phone call to the opposition leader for a dialogue, the
prime minister said how much flexible she could be towards the BNP.
The prime minister asked TV reporters and camerapersons to focus on the
attackers and capture their photographs so that the culprits could be
identified and tracked down.
During the visit to the burn unit in the afternoon, she gave Tk 10,000
to the families of each victim and told the attending physicians that
she would bear the cost of medicines which were not available in the
government stock, for the burn victims from the prime minister’s
personal fund.
A total of 51 victims who suffered severe burns in arson attacks during
the recent spells of strike and blockade enforced by the BNP-led
alliance had been admitted to the burn unit of DMCH. Of them, 37 were
undergoing treatment while nine succumbed to their wounds and five had
been discharged after treatment.
Md Zulfikar Ali, director (health affairs) at the Prime Minister’s
Office, told reporters that the government had been providing treatment
to the burn victims free of cost. (source)