"BNP forgot to talk about the country when it went to India, Awami League and Sheikh Hasina have done what they got from India," said Information and Broadcasting Minister and Joint General Secretary of Awami League Dr Hasan Mahmud.
In response to the questions of journalists at the Secretariat on Tuesday afternoon, he said, "What Mirza Fakhrul said yesterday about the Prime Minister's visit to India is applicable to BNP and Begum Khaleda Zia." You remember, after Begum Khaleda Zia came back from her visit to India, she was asked about the fair share of Ganges water. Then Begum Zia said - God, I had forgotten that. Those whose leaders forget to talk about the fair share of Ganga water while visiting India, they have always given everything to India, but could not get anything back.
Dr. Hasan said, 'India's relationship with the government of our Prime Minister Bangabandhu's daughter Sheikh Hasina is very good, written in blood letters. Under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, our two countries' relations have reached new heights through mutual cooperation based on fairness. Our government has exacted a lot from India. The prime minister has collected duty-free exports on all products, except for only 20 products, including tobacco, for the first time in managing the state power three times in a row.
The Information Minister reminded and said, "Our enclaves were supposed to be handed over to us under the friendship agreement signed by Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1974." In the middle, BNP was in power for several periods, Ershad Sahib was in power, emergency government was in power. But no one could claim the rights of these enclaves. Millions of people in the enclave had no national identity. The Awami League government under the leadership of Sheikh Hasina negotiated with India and achieved it many decades after the agreement, the enclaves came under our right, the size of our country increased. We have won maritime boundary by suing India in international court. So, everything that was collected from India was done by the Awami League government, it was done by the leader of the people, Sheikh Hasina. And BNP has brought everything to India.
In response to the question as to why the Foreign Minister did not accompany the Prime Minister on a visit to India, the Broadcasting Minister said, 'When the Prime Minister of India goes abroad, the Foreign Minister of that country does not always accompany her. We have been told by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs that the Minister of Foreign Affairs is somewhat ill, that is why he did not go. Can you ask how he went to the office yesterday? If you are a little sick, you can go to the office, but it is not possible to make such a high level visit.
In response to the BNP Secretary General's statement that 'the government should be overthrown and democracy established', the Information and Broadcasting Minister said, 'BNP originated from the barrel of a gun undemocratically. The party that Ziaur Rahman established by seizing power, raising the barrel of the gun, killing people, seizing power and giving away the surplus of power, when that party talks about democracy, people laugh, donkeys also laugh.