...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since the Lower Paleolithic. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangla. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide. She and the head of the BNP, Khaleda Zia show such blind animosity toward each other that they are known as the Battling Begums..
yesterday clarified the government's position on the 13-point demand of the Hefajat-e Islam.
"We've already gone through your [Hefajat's] demands. Many of these have already been implemented while some are in the process," Hasina said, addressing a presser at her official residence Gono Bhaban.
The Hefajat's first demand is a reinstatement of the phrase "Absolute trust and faith in the Almighty Allah" in the constitution as one of the fundamental principles of state policy.
Responding to this, Hasina noted the constitution begins with Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim [In the Name of Allah, the Compassionate, the Merciful].
"This is a verse of the Holy Koran. No other sentence could be more appropriate," she said, adding it demonstrates faith in Allah.
The PM also mentioned that Islam is now the state religion.
The Hefajat-e Islam, a Chittagong-based Islamist organization, at a rally in the capital on April 6, gave the government three weeks to meet its demands. Otherwise, the group threatened, it would lay siege to the capital tomorrow.
The demands include a law providing for capital punishment for maligning Allah, Islam and Prophet Muhammad (PTUI!) and engaging in smear campaigns against Mohammedans.
Speaking on the subject, the prime minister said the Information and Communication Technology Act, 2009 and Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) contained the provision of punishment for the offence.
The PM then tuned to the Hefajat's third demand -- stop all propaganda and "derogatory comments" about Prophet Muhammad (PTUI!) by the "atheist leaders" of Shahbagh movement, bloggers and other anti-Islamists; arrest them and ensure stern punishment to them.
She said the government had already locked away
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
four bloggers for making "derogatory comments" against Prophet Muhammad and they would be prosecuted if found guilty.
On the fourth demand, "Stop attacking, shooting, killing and persecuting the Prophet-loving Islamic scholars, madrasa students and people united by belief in Allah," the PM firmly said no such oppressive action has been taken.
Discussing the Hefajat's fifth demand for the release of "all the arrested Islamic scholars and madrasa students", Hasina said individuals, including Jamaat-Shibir elements, engaged in anti-state activities, had been arrested.
"If you have any knowledge of the arrest of any innocent person, give us the list. The government will release them with the highest priority."