Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has called upon Bangladeshi expatriates to give a befitting reply to the propaganda against Bangladesh and its government.
“Give an instant befitting reply to the propaganda being carried out against us,” she said while addressing a reception accorded by the Bangladeshi expatriates in the USA, joining virtually from her palace of residence in New York on Saturday.
The premier also urged the expats to present true picture of the country’s unprecedented development that took place during the Awami League (AL) government’s and move around the world keeping head high maintaining the dignity and honour Bangladesh achieved globally.
She said relatives of the war criminals and killers of the Father of the Nation alongside the people who fled the country committing various crimes that included money laundering are behind the anti-state propaganda.
“The people, who are orchestrating the propaganda on the social media, are mostly sacked from the jobs for their involvement in misdeeds or fled the country committing crimes,” she said.
The premier called upon all to make public the characters and misdeeds of the people who are now giving lessons to others by spreading false and fabricated information about the government and Bangladesh using social media.
“Don’t pay heed to their words, rather present the development scenario carried out by us to the people,” she added.
Sheikh Hasina called upon all Bangladeshi expatriates to spread her government’s development picture to all the places.
“Inform congressmen, senators and elected representatives in your locality about the development of Bangladesh and maintain communication with them,” she said.
To this end, she said you can judge how much development was carried out by them after seeing the comparative picture of the size of budget during the BNP-Jamaat alliance government and the Awami League government.
“The size of budget during the BNP tenure was only Tk 60,000 crore while the last budget of the AL government was Taka six lakh crore,” she said.
The prime minister reiterated her call to the expats to move around the world keeping Bangladesh’s image intact, saying, “I urge you all to uphold the dignity and honour that Bangladesh has now achieved from the world.”
She thanked the Bangladeshi expatriates for taking stand against the World Bank’s decision of withdrawing their fund from the Padma Multipurpose Bridge project bringing false and fabricated allegations which was later proved by a Canadian court.
The decision of constructing Padma Bridge by Bangladesh’s own finance has changed the image of the country to the world and proved that Bangladesh has the ability to do what it said, Sheikh Hasina said.
The prime minister once again alerted the countrymen about the impending severe food crisis in the world due to the climate change, Covid-19 pandemic, Russia-Ukraine conflict, sanctions and counter sanctions, urging them to grow more foods to ward off the future crisis.
“As a severe food crisis is approaching the world, ask your relatives not to leave a single inch of land uncultivated using the digital divide as Bangladesh has already been transformed into a digital country,” she asked the Bangladeshi expatriates.
BNP violates human rights at every step
Sheikh Hasina heavily criticised the BNP for talking about the electoral process, democracy and human rights despite the party became the champion in vote rigging and human rights violation alongside introducing the politics of disappearance, killings and misdeeds including corruption, money laundering and arms trade.
“BNP was the champion in vote rigging. They had prepared the voter list with 1.23 corer fake voters. There was no misdeed left they had not committed to manipulate the election,” she said.
The prime minister said military dictator Ziaur Rahman, who assumed power violating the country’s constitution, had initiated all bad things in politics such as killings, disappearances, corruption, money laundering and the culture of loan default to secure his illegal power.
Ziaur Rahman stopped the trial of the war criminals that was initiated by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and made them advisers and ministers, she said, adding that Khaleda and Ershad did the same thing.
His (Ziaur Rahman’s) wife Khaleda Zia was convicted in a graft case for misappropriating the orphans’ money while his son Tarique Rahman in money laundering and 10-truck arms haul cases, she said.
Bangladesh government had already brought back Tk 20 crore illegally siphoned off by Zia’s another son late KoKo, she added.
The prime minister said they (Zia’s family) have amassed such a huge amount of money that they had hired a FBI officer to collect information about her son Joy in a bid to kidnap and kill him (Joy) in the USA.
On the contrary, Sheikh Hasina, also President of the Awami League, said that her party always believes in preserving the rights of people, adding, “The Awami League has returned the power of giving votes to the people from the cantonment where it was captured.”
The prime minister said Bangladesh is now being socio-economically developed as the country is running following the democratic process since 2009.
The BNP-Jamaat alliance had tried time and again to put hindrance on the democratic process by resorting to the culture of arson attacks, terrorism and killings, she said.
But, the people never respond to their acts, as they are involved in wrongdoings that include killings, corruption, money laundering and arms trading, she added.
The premier said her government is always in favour of justice, so it held trial in the killing case of the Father of the Nation and initiated the trial of the war criminals.
Bangladesh has been made free from the stigma with holding the trials of Bangabandhu killers and war criminals, she said.
She added: “I believe that Bangladesh’s economy has become more vibrant and started journey towards development after it was free from the curse (which was upon Bangladesh due to not holding the trials of Bangabandhu’s killers and war criminals).”
The prime minister said her government has taken measures to give the people of the country a beautiful and developed life.
As part of the move of not keeping a single person of Bangladesh homeless and landless, she said they have already given home to 10 lakh families free of cost and arranged for earnings to maintain life and livelihoods properly.
“People of Bangladesh are now in good condition,” she said.
The prime minister said her government is working for the welfare of the Bangladeshi expatriates, giving a brief description of its efforts that included three banks to make sure their betterment.
She also greeted the Bangladeshi expatriates as they always stand beside country in its critical juncture, calling upon them to make more investment in home.
