BNP looted from power sector while Awami League maximized the production capacity: HPM Sheikh Hasina

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina today criticised BNP leaders for the hurricane lamp movement against the government's initiative to save power and energy to protect Bangladesh from any future danger due to skyrocketing prices of energy globally for the Russia-Ukraine war.

"BNP leaders are carrying out a movement with hurricane (lamp). They will have to be given hurricane to be carried in their hands --- give hurricane in their hands," she said in a slanted expression in Bangla to ridicule someone involving a traditional kerosene-lit lamp widely used until the last century.

The prime minister was addressing a blood donation programme as the chief guest marking the first day of the month of mourning, joining virtually from her official Ganabhaban residence here.

Bangladesh Krishak League organised the function on the premises of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Memorial Museum at Dhanmondi 32 in the capital.

The prime minister said her government has reached power to every house across the country and is now taking precautionary measures to save power and energy.

"We're taking measures for saving power and energy to protect Bangladesh from any danger in future as even the developed countries like USA and UK and neighbouring India are facing difficulties and focus on saving energy due to the global situation for Russia-Ukraine war," she added.

Referring to the BNP government's wholesale looting from the power sector, she said her government is taking measures to save energy for the future not for launching looting like the BNP government.

The premier said the power generation would have been reduced if her government was involved in looting and it is usual, adding, "But the Awami League has maximised the power generation capacity to 24,000MW.

The power generation reduced to 3000MW from 43000MW during the tenure of the BNP government as they were engaged in massive corruption, she said.

Her government would work to ensure the safety and wellbeing of the countrymen, she added.

Awami League Presidium Members, Begum Matia Chowdhury and Agriculture Minister Dr Muhammad Abdur Razzaque, Joint General Secretary AFM Bahauddin Nasim, Agriculture and Cooperatives Affairs Secretary Faridunnahar Laily, Organising Secretary Advocate Afzal Hossain, and Office Secretary Biplab Barua, spoke on the occasion.

BKL President Samir Chanda presided over the function while it's General Secretary Umme Kulsum Smriti moderated it.

At the outset of the programme, a one-minute silence was observed to show due respect to the martyrs of the August 15, 1975 carnage including Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, his wife, three sons and two daughters-in-law.

The prime minister said the entire world has been rattled by the economic debacle due to the Russia-Ukraine war and the Coronavirus and many developed countries have been facing crises for the reason.

The USA's inflation rate has increased to 9.1 percent due to the war which was only one percent while the inflation rate in the UK and Netherlands is 9.4 percent and many countries of Europe have 8.9 percent inflation rates, she said.

"We have been able to keep the inflation rate at 7.5 percent," she added.

Taking the reality into consideration, the premier reiterated her call to all people to bring every inch of land and every water body under cultivation, saying, "We have to grow our food."

She asked her party men to pursue the order and inspire people to grow their food using every inch of their land.

Sheikh Hasina, also Awami League President, said BNP leaders are now talking about the electoral process as the people had no voting power during the tenure of the BNP-Jamaat alliance government referring to the elections to Magura, Mirpur and Dhaka-10 constituency.

"People witnessed the elections (to Magura, Mirpur and Dhaka-10). No person could cast their votes and people had no right to give vote during the BNP regime. This is very unfortunate that BNP leaders are now talking about the electoral process," she said posing a question: "With which mouth can they say it?"

The BNP never came to power through election, she said, adding that they came to power through rigging or giving bonds of selling the country.

The prime minister said the BNP terrorists during their tenure cast votes of the commoners in favour of its election symbol on broad-day-light after occupying the voting centres and in some cases of failing to do so, they announced their candidates' victory.

The BNP which was formed at the hand of military dictator Ziaur Rahman, who grabbed state power violating the country's constitution, had transformed Bangladesh into a country of terrorism, militancy, corruption and arms trading, she said.

She stated that the BNP leaders did business cashing in on the food scarcity and identified the nation as a beggar before the world and said, "This (showing food insufficiency) was a business as they took a commission in the name of procuring food."

Pointing at fugitive BNP leader Tarique Rahman, she said BNP leaders were also involved in arms trading which was exposed in a remark of a BNP leader.

"Such types of works have been carried out by the intelligence agencies. One cache of arms (10-truck arms haul) had been caught. Many caches of arms had been smuggled in and out of the country during the BNP regime," she added.

The BNP had entirely destroyed the country by making it dependent on others, creating militancy and terrorism, and turning it into a champion of corruption for five times, she said.

Besides, the BNP had also destroyed the environment of education by giving firearms to the hands of intelligent students in the educational institutes and using them as their gangs, the premier said.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and her family members were involved in money laundering which was unearthed by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), she stated.

Sheikh Hasina said Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had dedicated his entire life to change the fate of the people by giving them an improved and better life for which he had to endure inhuman torture in a Pakistani jail.

The Father of the Nation along with most of his family members had been assassinated on August 15 in 1975 when he transformed Bangladesh into the least developed country within only three and a half years tenure of his government upon rebuilding a war-ravaged country.

"We will not allow the people who killed the Father of the Nation and established the reign of killers and war criminals to play ducks and drakes with the fate of the countrymen," she said.

The premier said in emotion charged voice that her father, mother and brothers were killed by the Bangalees for whom her father sacrificed his entire life.

"I never find an answer to the question, how the Bangalees could do such hypocrisy and dishonesty?" she said.

She also said false propaganda was carried out in a planned way after the 1975's August 15 carnage against Bangabandhu, his family members, and the Awami League leaders.

Sheikh Hasina said they restored the democracy in the country through the path of long movement and struggle.

She added: "If the real democracy prevails in a country, then the fate of the masses will change completely. Today's Bangladesh is the example of that."