Govt had a hand in Bogra affair, believes Hasina

She said security was tight and there was red alert throughout the country as the Indonesian President Megawati Soekarnoputri and US Secretary of State Colin Powell were visiting the country.

"So how the truck carrying the munitions reached Bogra, if there was no government patronisation?" the former prime minister asked. She demanded explanation from the prime minister and the home minister about the munitions recovered from Bogra.

The opposition leader was addressing as the chief guest a meeting held at Karimpur High School field in Lalpur upazila yesterday afternoon to condole the death of former AL lawmaker Mamtaz Uddin.

Presided over by the upazila AL president Yunus Ali, the meeting was also addressed among others by AL General Secretary Abdul Jalil MP and AL front liners Motia Chowdhury and Abu Sayeed.

She said the government now is trying to blame the Awami League for the Bogra incident and questioned, "Is it believable that a union level poor Awami League leader was involved in such a million dollar business?"

The government and its police mention the names of AL leaders, but remain silent about the Jamaat-e-Islami and BNP leaders from whose houses munitions were recovered, she said. "It has become a habit of this government to blame the AL after every incident."

Hasina alleged that the government was not only suppressing the truth about the ammunition but also obstructing the press and the electronic media from making objective reports on the matter. Hasina blamed the BNP-Jamaat government for patronising criminals and rewarding killers.

AL leader Mamtaz was murdered by the same criminals who were released from jail and cases on the recommendation of a state minister, she said.

"The government which reinstated the killers of the father of the nation to public service has no the right to stay in power", she said calling upon all to unite to oust the 'corrupt' government.