BNP Acting Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Monday questioned whether ousted former prime minister Sheikh Hasina would return to Bangladesh accompanied by Indian Prime Minister Barendra Modi, who he said had given her shelter in India.
He said, “We are occasionally hearing the sounds of crude bombs and firecrackers from alleys and different intersections. There is a ‘cockroach movement’ in Delhi. The prime minister of that country has given shelter to Hasina. Sheikh Hasina has said she will return in December."
"Now, the question is whether she will enter Bangladesh accompanied by the person who gave her shelter, and whether these firecrackers are being set off to celebrate that possibility. This is what people are asking,” he said.
He made the remarks while addressing a discussion and cultural programme organised by Jatiyatabadi Samajik Sanskritik Sangstha (JASAS) at the Central Shaheed Minar in the evening, marking National Revolution and Solidarity Day.
Rizvi said Hasina might believe that simply announcing her return would enable her to come back to the country.
He also referred to reports that she had applied for a passport and a national identity card.
“Someone who fled the country after shedding the blood of school and college students such as Ahnaf, Mugdha and Abu Sayeed, will get a passport and an NID card, return to the country and be welcomed with drums and musical instruments? That is what they are imagining,” he said.
Rizvi alleged that Awami League leaders had amassed huge amounts of money during their 17 years in power through the looting of state-owned financial institutions, including Bangladesh Bank, BASIC Bank and Sonali Bank.
He claimed that although a large amount of money had been siphoned out of the country, not all of it could be transferred abroad.
He alleged that some of the money retained by Awami League leaders might be being used to buy firecrackers and crude bombs, and questioned whether there was an attempt to bring Hasina back to Bangladesh alongside Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Rizvi said the people of Bangladesh were tolerant, but warned that they could rise up like a powerful nor'wester, the mighty Padma River or the waves of the Bay of Bengal when pushed to the limit.
“When the people of this country rise up, neither Sheikh Hasina nor her forefathers will be able to do anything,” he said.
The BNP leader said fascism never disappeared completely but remained dormant, waiting for an opportunity to return to power through different tactics.
He alleged that after returning to power, Hasina had followed a pattern similar to that of her father by suppressing and persecuting the opposition, while adding enforced disappearances, killings, secret murders and crossfire to the methods of repression.
Rizvi said Hasina had wanted to remain in power for life as an empress or queen without holding credible elections.
He said Hasina had fled the country like a frightened jackal following a massive uprising led by students and the public.
Rizvi said the spirit of November 7, 1975, had inspired the mass uprising of 1990 and the July 2024 uprising.
“November 7 is a day of awakening, a day of rising up, a day of regaining one's self-respect, a day of protecting one's freedom, sovereignty and cultural independence,” he said.