Govt trying to cling to power by destroying AL: Hasina

"They have put some 1,000 Awami League leaders and workers, including myself, on their hit list in Dhaka and 8,000 others across the country. This is how they (BNP-Jamaat) are coming up with a dangerous blueprint to destroy Awami League," she said.

The AL president was addressing the 3rd National Council of Swadhinata Chikitshak Parishad, a forum of physicians, at BIAM auditorium yesterday.

Referring to the unrest in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) over the last couple of days, Hasina said the CHT used to be a promising area where her previous AL government had established peace, ending decades-old insurgency.

"But unrest and instability have again gripped the hill districts. Many houses were destroyed in Mahalchhari in arson attacks and many girls raped, creating an alarming situation in the area," she said, adding that several villages in Pabna have also been torched by the ruling alliance activists out of political vengeance.

She further alleged that even physicians have not been spared from their (BNP-Jamaat) "political vendetta" as the government was appointing "less qualified people" to different posts in the health sector instead of giving priority to the meritorious and qualified ones.

"Bangladesh is no longer a self-dependent country as it was during our rule. It has now become a country of horror and kidnap," she said urging the people to prepare to protect the country from the "misrule" of the alliance government.

President of Swadhinata Chikitshak Parishad Dr AFM Ruhul Huq chaired the inaugural ceremony of the council. Secretary General of the Parishad Dr Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin, Prof M Moazzem Hossain, Prof Rashid-e-Mahbub and Dr Abu Shafi Ahmed Amin also addressed.