...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..
said on Saturday that she does not want to see their recurrence in the country anymore.
"These are absolutely terrorist acts. We don’t want such terrorist acts to occur again... We want peace in the country," she told a rally at Chandpur Stadium, organized by local units of her party.
Hasina said Awami League wants development of the country, not the nightmare of killings. "We want to make sure people of the country will live in a peaceful environment.
"Destruction is the character of BNP-Jamaat nexus."
Turning to the "embezzlement" of money from the Zia Orphanage Trust and punishment of BNP Chairperson
Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ...
, she alleged that it is the character of BNP to loot other people’s money.
"They’re involved in money laundering, terrorism, militancy and bombing attacks. Their characters have been unmasked through these evil activities," she said.
Hasina, also the president of Awami League, said BNP never believed in the country’s independence as they had "rewarded" the killers of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and handed over the national flag to war criminals.
"They never believed in development of the country, they were never involved in development and will never be in the future."
She said: "Stay careful with our children. They must not be involved in terrorism, militancy and drug addiction. Our children will be there on the path of development and education," she said.
The prime ministes reiterated that the special quota for freedom fighters, their children and grandchildren will continue.
"You have to remember one thing ‐ these freedom fighters brought independence to us through a war by risking their lives. Many of them made the supreme sacrifice and many embraced disability. I think it’s our duty to show respect to them and their families. That’s why we’ve made the arrangement," she said.
Expressing her desire to see the country in a dignified position by 2021, where there will be no hunger and poverty, she said the continuation of development has to be ensured to make it happen.
"Boat [Awami League’s electoral symbol] is actually your election symbol. To help maintain the development spree, I want you to vote for Boat [in the upcoming general election]," she urged people.
Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Kader, Chandpur district unit president and municipality mayor Nasir Uddin Ahmed, and the party’s big shots Dr Dipu Moni, Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, Dr Abdur Razzaq, Maj (retd) Rafiqul Islam, Dr Mahiuddin Khan Alamgir and Sujit Roy Nandi also spoke at the event.
Upon arrival at the venue, Hasina inaugurated 23 development projects and laid the foundation plaques of 24 other schemes.