'Zia started politics of killing, disappearance'

Published : 30 Aug 2021, 21:04

Sahos Desk

Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud today said BNP’s founder Ziaur Rahman had started the politics of killing and disappearance in the country.

“Ziaur Rahman had started the politics of killing and disappearance after occupying the state power . . . And Begum Zia continued the trend,” he told reporters at his official residence in the city’s Minto Road.

Earlier, the minister addressed a discussion virtually organised by Press Institute Bangladesh (PIB), marking the National Mourning Day.  

Hasan, also Awami League joint general secretary, said Zia killed hundreds of members of armed forces to cling to the power.  

“People were killed after being taken away from prisons also. BNP leaders including Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Ruhul Kabir Rizvi should remember how many people were killed and disappeared by Zia,” he added.

He said even the then Dhaka city Chhatra League general secretary Mahfuz Babu and Moulavi Sayed of Chattogram, who protested the brutal assassination of Bangabandhu, were not spared from the politics of killing by Zia.  

“Zia was actively involved in the killing of Bangabandhu. So, the BNP men have no right of talking about the killing and disappearance, he added.

In the meeting, the minister urged the journalists to play a role in unveiling the information behind the fierce killing of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

He said not only a few misguided army personnel killed Bangabandhu, Khandaker Mushtaq, and Ziaur Rahman were also the main conspirators behind the murder.

Hasan said the journalists can play a pivotal role in presenting the real background to the countrymen behind the killing of five AL lawmakers at Eid prayers during the time of rebuilding a war-torn country, torching at jute warehouse and other conspiracies against the country.  

They (journalists) can also play an important role in presenting the real background of forming BaKSAL for the interest of the country, he added.

The minister directed the PIB concerned to preserve the statements of the veteran journalists over the period of 1971 and 1975.

Information and Broadcasting Secretary Md Mokbul Hossain addressed the discussion as special guest while Professor Dr Abul Kashem and Dr Mohammad Hannan, among others, addressed the meeting with PIB director general Zafar Wazed in the chair.

Source: BSS

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