Author: Haroon Habib
Publication: The Hindu
Date: December 2, 2002
URL: http://www.hinduonnet.com/thehindu/2002/12/02/stories/2002120204341100.htm
The ruling four-party alliance,
led by the Prime Minister, Begum Khaleda Zia, has launched a campaign to
try the Leader of the Opposition, Sheikh Hasina, who has just returned
from India, for her alleged "remarks against the country".
The alliance criticised the former
Prime Minister for what it termed her "anti-state campaign abroad" and
portrayal of Bangladesh as a "Taliban state" and demanded that the Government
try her on treason charges. The campaign was launched after the European
Parliament passed a resolution expressing "serious concern" at the "fundamentalist
resurgence" in Bangladesh, wanton abuses of human rights and political
persecution during the Army crackdown and minority repressions.
The campaign gained momentum after
several Indian leaders, including the Deputy Prime Minister, L.K. Advani,
the External Affairs Minister, Yashwant Sinha, and the Defence Minister,
George Fernandes, alleged that Bangladesh was harbouring anti-Indian elements,
including those of the Al-Qaeda, and that the Pakistan Embassy there was
working as an ISI hub.
Some alliance leaders addressed
a rally here on Saturday to protest Sheikh Hasina's recent statements in
Brussels, the U.S. and India. They said India had launched a campaign against
Bangladesh to "destroy its image". They alleged that it was India which
was patronising religious fundamentalism.
The Communications Minister, Nazmul
Huda, said Sheikh Hasina was engaged in a "dangerous conspiracy against
the nation''.
Meanwhile, Sheikh Hasina, who returned
home on Saturday, challenged the BNP-Jamaat Government to prove the allegations.
She threatened to file a defamation case against the Government in the
event of failure to authenticate the allegations. "Whatever I have said
during my visits to Bangkok and New Delhi is on record. The Government
must prove what I had said is against the country.'' If it fails, Sheikh
Hasina said, she would take it to court for "false propaganda".
She vowed not to spare anybody making
"false" statements to tarnish her image referring to the Foreign Minister,
Morshed Khan's recent statement in which he accused her of launching an
"anti-Bangladesh campaign abroad" prompting New Delhi to describe Dhaka
as "a nerve-centre for anti-Indian activities".
Reacting to Sheikh Hasina's statement,
the Foreign Minister told a private television channel that "time will
say who will file case against whom". He said: "Whatever statements she
has made in India and Thailand is proof that she has tarnished the nation's
image''.
Meanwhile, Sheikh Hasina lashed
out at the Government for failing to protect the country's image abroad.
"Speaking against the misdeeds of the Government and speaking against the
country are not the same. Speaking about crime and corruption by the government
can never be an anti-state campaign". She said human rights violations,
political persecution, crimes and corruption had damaged the country's
image during the coalition rule. The international community was aware
of the developments in Bangladesh.
On the allegation that she prompted
the European Parliament's resolution against Bangladesh and the Indian
leaders' remarks, Sheikh Hasina said: "Am I so powerful that the European
Parliament, the Indian Parliament and the U.S. State Department would act
on my dictates?''
On her meetings with the Prime Minister,
Atal Behari Vajpayee, and other Indian leaders, she said she had talked
about the trade imbalance between the two countries and the "killing" of
Bangladeshis by the BSF in border areas. "I requested the Indian Government
to allow duty-free access of 25 categories of Bangladeshi items to India
as agreed during our rule.''
On the Indian allegation about the
Al-Qaeda activists in Bangladesh, she said: "It is something for the Government
to speak about. It should not relate me with such things."