Country was turned into prison during Zia regime: Hasan

Information and Broadcasting Minister and Awami League Joint General Secretary Dr Hasan Mahmud on Tuesday said military dictator Ziaur Rahman had turned the country into a prison by imposing a curfew.

“Military dictator Ziaur Rahman turned the country into a prison by imposing a curfew . . . the family members of those, who were hanged by Ziaur Rahman with short trial and without trial in 1977, are still crying”.

He made these remarks while replying to journalists over the recent remarks of BNP Standing Committee Member Abdul Moyeen Khan at the ministry conference room at the secretariat in Dhaka, reports Bangladesh Sangbad Sangstha.

Bangladesh Secretariat Reporters Forum (BSRF) President Tapan Biswas and General Secretary Masud-ul-Huq and other leaders greeted the minister by handing over a bouquet to him for being reelected as the joint general secretary of Awami League.

He said Moyeen Khan might have forgotten that his father was the food minister in Ziaur Rahman’s cabinet.

“At that period, curfew was imposed all over the country. After 10 pm, a curfew was imposed in large cities, including Dhaka and Chattogram. The entire city was turned into a prison. Curfew means a prison-like situation as none can go out from home,” he said, adding that but there is no such situation prevailing now.

“Moyeen Khan is a senior politician. Showing respect to Moyeen Khan, I want to say that if he recalls his father’s tenure, everything can be understood. Actually, Moyeen Khan wanted to say about the situation of his father’s tenure which means the period of Zia when the entire country was turned into a prison,” he said.

Noting that BNP founder Ziaur Rahman had introduced the politics of killings and disappearance, the minister said thousands of leaders and workers of AL were killed, many went missing and human rights were violated massively.

He said during the 2013-14-15 period, innocent people were killed in arson attacks at the directive of Begum Khaleda Zia, the leader of Moyeen Khan.

The minister urged Moyeen Khan and other senior BNP leaders to see their own faces in the mirror and recall the situation during their government’s tenures.

He said Begum Khaleda Zia also wanted to turn the country into a prison following the footprints of his husband.

In the name of the blockade, BNP had kept the people confined for 100 days and it was also like turning the country into a prison, he said.

Asked about Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC)’s filing of a case against the BNP Standing Committee Member Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, the minister said he read in the newspaper that the five-star Hotel Sarina was built without following the approved plan. 

He said those, who are lawmakers, should not violate laws. Many of them (BNP leaders) made such violations and gradually everything will be revealed, he added.

About the fare of the metro-rail, the minister said it is a matter of joy that the commercial operation of the metro-rail is going to begin.

None can imagine that a metro-rail can be built in the country, he said, adding that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate the metro-rail operation and the service will be expanded gradually.

Today, all the people of the country are eagerly waiting for the inauguration of metro rail, he said.

The amount of fares for monthly, fortnightly or weekly tickets are very little but if anyone buys a ticket for an instant journey, the fare will be different, he said.

“I decided that I will bring the opportunity for the people of my constituency to take trips on metro-rail,” he said.