BANGLADESH NEWS
“The recent atrocities and violence remind us of the methods used in the
1971. It’s very unfortunate...we all believe it has to stop and we will
all work for it,” she said replying to a question from an Indian
journalist at a crowded press conference on the last day of Indian
President Pranab Mukherjee’s visit.
Mukherjee’s visit was marred by shutdowns called by the Jamaat-e-Islami, fighting fiercely with police in different parts of the country.
Jamaat followers started violence on Feb 28 when the International Crimes Tribunal-1 handed down Jamaat leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee death penalty for his crimes against humanity including rape and murder in 1971.
Juxtaposing the Jamaat violence with the ongoing Shahbagh protest where thousands of youths have been protesting peacefully for nearly a month demanding capital punishment for war criminals, the Foreign Minister said they (Jamaat-e-Islami) knew ‘one and only method of violence.’
She said her party Awami League was ‘a huge party with huge support’, but they would not go for ‘tit for tat’ action, so that violence did not escalate.
“We are working to contain it,” she said and that there was nothing political in it. “It’s pure and simple violence and acts of terrorism.”
Drawing a comparison with the 1971 atrocities, the Foreign Minister said on Mar 25, 1971 police were the first ones to be attacked, and in the ongoing Jamaat protest also they were ‘attacking and killing’ policemen.
“They used the same methods (as in 1971) of killing people, intimidation, attacks on places of worship and minorities, vandalism at Shaheed Minars, desecration of the national flag, and attacking houses and offices of the Awami League and its followers.”
She said they were ‘damaging railways, our power stations, public properties, private properties, killing people and attacking police. We see a similarity (with 1971).”
“In ’71, if you (journalists) remember they wanted everything to be burnt down, to be wiped out...attacking the infrastructure, attacking our people, administration everything. These are the hallmarks I am talking about.”
She appreciated the Shahbagh movement as she said they were protesting ‘seriously, but peacefully.’
“We encourage that kind of protest and I am sure everybody around the world would also appreciate that such protest rather than what is being carried out by some quarters, who are not big in numbers, unlike Shahbagh, but are launching sometimes clandestine attacks.”
Replying to a query about banning Jamaat, she once again said the government would ‘definitely’ consider as the demand had been placed from the Shahbagh’s ‘Prajanma Chattar’ and that the Election Commission had a role to play in this regard.
She insisted that police fired only when they were ‘compelled to’.
Mukherjee’s visit was marred by shutdowns called by the Jamaat-e-Islami, fighting fiercely with police in different parts of the country.
Jamaat followers started violence on Feb 28 when the International Crimes Tribunal-1 handed down Jamaat leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee death penalty for his crimes against humanity including rape and murder in 1971.
Juxtaposing the Jamaat violence with the ongoing Shahbagh protest where thousands of youths have been protesting peacefully for nearly a month demanding capital punishment for war criminals, the Foreign Minister said they (Jamaat-e-Islami) knew ‘one and only method of violence.’
She said her party Awami League was ‘a huge party with huge support’, but they would not go for ‘tit for tat’ action, so that violence did not escalate.
“We are working to contain it,” she said and that there was nothing political in it. “It’s pure and simple violence and acts of terrorism.”
Drawing a comparison with the 1971 atrocities, the Foreign Minister said on Mar 25, 1971 police were the first ones to be attacked, and in the ongoing Jamaat protest also they were ‘attacking and killing’ policemen.
“They used the same methods (as in 1971) of killing people, intimidation, attacks on places of worship and minorities, vandalism at Shaheed Minars, desecration of the national flag, and attacking houses and offices of the Awami League and its followers.”
She said they were ‘damaging railways, our power stations, public properties, private properties, killing people and attacking police. We see a similarity (with 1971).”
“In ’71, if you (journalists) remember they wanted everything to be burnt down, to be wiped out...attacking the infrastructure, attacking our people, administration everything. These are the hallmarks I am talking about.”
She appreciated the Shahbagh movement as she said they were protesting ‘seriously, but peacefully.’
“We encourage that kind of protest and I am sure everybody around the world would also appreciate that such protest rather than what is being carried out by some quarters, who are not big in numbers, unlike Shahbagh, but are launching sometimes clandestine attacks.”
Replying to a query about banning Jamaat, she once again said the government would ‘definitely’ consider as the demand had been placed from the Shahbagh’s ‘Prajanma Chattar’ and that the Election Commission had a role to play in this regard.
She insisted that police fired only when they were ‘compelled to’.
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