National Citizen Party (NCP) Convener and Opposition Chief Whip Nahid Islam on Monday said whenever ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina returns to Bangladesh from India, students and the public will take her directly from the airport to the gallows.
“Sheikh Hasina will be taken straight from the airport to the gallows. If Tarique Rahman [Prime Minister] strikes a deal with Delhi to arrange her return, we are ready to carry out Hasina's execution,” he said while addressing a discussion titled “One-Point Demand in the Voice of Martyrs’ Families and the Injured”, organised by the NCP at the Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh auditorium in Kakrail.
Nahid said families of 1,400 martyrs and 30,000 injured fighters of the July uprising will take to the streets and remain there until Hasina's execution is carried out, if she returns to Bangladesh.
Accusing the BNP government of shielding its own wrongdoing in the same manner as the Awami League once did, he said BNP leaders themselves have admitted that nothing has changed in the past five months, with bribery and corruption continuing as before.
The NCP leader alleged that a narrative is being pushed portraying Prime Minister Tarique Rahman as good while blaming others, similar to the propaganda once used to defend Hasina.
He alleged that the public continues to suffer due to gas shortages in households and lack of electricity, while politicisation persists across institutions, including the police.
Nahid alleged widespread extortion and corruption, claiming the only change over the past two years is that Tarique Rahman returned from London to become prime minister.
Expressing disappointment over the lack of government initiatives for the families of martyrs, he said BNP has yet to take any steps for the martyrs and the injured, stressing that martyrs’ families are a national asset who gave their lives for the liberation of the people, not to install anyone in power.
“We did not launch this movement to attain power. We declared the abolition of the fascist system. We will not allow this country to become a haven for autocracy, corruption and extortion again,” the opposition chief whip said.
Among others, NCP Member Secretary Akhter Hossen, Chief Organiser for Chief Coordinator Nasiruddin Patwary, Northern Region Sarjis Alam, Jatiya Nari Shakti Member Secretary Mahmuda Mitu, its Chief Organiser Nusrat Tabassum, and members of martyrs’ families were present at the discussion.