[🇧🇩] The Nexus Between Awami League and India

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https://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/foreign-affairs/138776/quader-to-india-our-alternative-forces-are-the

UNB
Publish : 21 Feb 2018, 09:00 PMUpdate : 22 Feb 2018, 12:24 PM

Quader to India: Our alternative forces are the friends of Pakistan​

Caption Awami League General Secretary and Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader at the closing session of Bangladesh-India Media Dialogue at a Dhaka hotel on Wednesday - Focus Bangla

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Wednesday sought continuous support from India to strengthen the Dhaka-Delhi ties, saying New Delhi should not forget that the ruling Awami League in Bangladesh is the only force against the friends of its arch-rival, Pakistan. "I want to tell you that our alternative force in Bangladesh are the friends of Pakistan," he said, while describing how Bangladesh destroyed all terror hideouts on its land, contributing to peace and stability in India’s volatile northeast region. Quader, also general secretary of the Awami League, said the present Bangladesh government under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has been able to destroy ‘the old wall of mistrust and suspicion’ with India. He made the remarks as the chief guest at the closing session of Bangladesh-India Media Dialogue.

State Minister for Information Tarana Halim, Deputy High Commissioner of India in Dhaka Dr Adarsh Swaika also joined the event as its special guests. Quader also said they might make mistakes but they never deviate from their roots. “We had to form strategic alliances but we never deviated from our roots. We want to further strengthen and cement our ties with India, and the media can play a vital role to this end.” Seeking assistance from New Delhi in resolving the ongoing Rohingya crisis, he said: “Please help us. It’s an unbearable burden. You’re our friends since 1971. We’re now facing a crisis. We want you to stand by us.” As India has amicable ties with Myanmar, the minister urged New Delhi to mount pressure on Naypyidaw so the latter takes back over a million Rohingya people living in Bangladesh. “We’re unable to bear the burden. We’ve given them shelter on humanitarian grounds.” He said Bangladesh is severely affected in many ways as it hosted the homeless Rohingya refugees from Myanmar’s strife-torn Rakhine state. “Tourists are not willing to visit Cox’s Bazar [where the refugees have taken shelter], and local communities are also suffering.” About the Teesta water sharing deal, the Awami League second-in-command said Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi assured Bangladesh of resolving the Teesta issue within the tenure of the incumbent governments in Bangladesh and India. “We’re still eagerly waiting to sign the deal. We haven’t lost our hope. We’ve seven to eight months before the 11th parliamentary election. We have accountability to people.” He also urged New Delhi to take steps to convince West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee to cooperate with the Indian central government on the issue. Recalling New Delhi’s support during Bangladesh’s Liberation War in 1971, Quader said it would have been really difficult to achieve independence without the support of India. Bangladesh’s connectivity with India has been strengthened on all fronts, including road, rail and water ways. Tarana Halim said India is Bangladesh’s tested and trusted ally and there has been a significant progress in bilateral relations over the past nine years. Former Bangladesh diplomat Muhammad Zamir, Major General (retd) Abdur Rashid, University Grants Commission Chairman Prof Abdul Mannan and Bhorer Kagoj Editor Shyamal Dutta also addressed the session. ‘Delhi shouldn't misunderstand Dhaka’ While addressing the dialogue’s inaugural session earlier in the day, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s media adviser Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury said Bangladesh's position with China should not be misunderstood by India. "There should not be any concerns on the Indian side," he said, laying emphasis on addressing concerns relating to border killings.​

 

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“India will back Sheikh Hasina from the top”

Bangladesh-India relations expert Avinash Paliwal talks about India’s “leverage” over Awami League politicians; how India’s national interests trump democracy in Bangladesh; and, Tarique Rahman’s “black swan” event.

netra.news

“India will back Sheikh Hasina from the top”​

Bangladesh-India relations expert Avinash Paliwal talks about India’s “leverage” over Awami League politicians; how India’s national interests trump democracy in Bangladesh; and, Tarique Rahman’s “black swan” event.

David Bergman
January 7th 2024

On “election” day in Bangladesh it is worth noting that today would not be happening without the Indian government’s substantial support for the Awami League.

“India is the most important external actor in Bangladesh politics, and it is likely to continue,” said Avinash Paliwal , a reader in International Relations at the University of London’s School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), who specialises in India-Bangladesh relations. “India will back Sheikh Hasina from the top.”

Paliwal, who is probably one of the most informed academics or commentators currently writing on Bangladesh-India relations and is publishing a book, India’s Near East, later in this year, was speaking to me six weeks ago in mid-November 2023.

India’s support for, and influence on, the Awami League

Paliwal explained that India has extraordinary influence within Bangladesh politics, “There is a clear consensus in the Indian political ecosystem to support the Awami League. India has diplomatic and political capital within the Awami League and in sections of the armed forces. It has favourites in the army and in the Awami League. They have favourite individuals and [India] has leverage over them.”

He said that these Bangladesh politicians and senior officials “are people who ask for Indian advice about decisions.”

“In Awami League, people lobby to get Indian support. That is known in the army, police, and intelligence services and within the Awami League. This is a known and an accepted fact. It is just not articulated.”

He went on to say, “The Awami League has given India that pride of place. It is the Awami League who is giving India a berth within Bangladesh rather than India desiring it.”

India’s interests in Bangladesh

The SOAS academic said that “India never cared about democracy in Bangladesh, as long as the person in power supports Indian national interests.”

He thinks though, “India does not decide policy” but it does have “clear asks.”

These are, first, to treat the Hindu community fairly. India does not want an exodus of Hindus from Bangladesh to India. Second, to make sure that Bangladeshi territory is not used to host militant groups seeking to attack India. And the third is improved transport connectivity, to obviate economic obstacles created by 1947 partition borders.

Paliwal says that Hasina has delivered on all these “asks”.

However, he noted that the “trade deficit between Bangladesh and India is massive” and that Bangladesh is far from being the “beneficiary” of the relationship.

India does, however, have some reservations about Bangladesh, “India’s problem with Bangladesh is not that it does not help India enough, but that Hasina has limited her own politics and narrowed her own political support by her actions, and hedging the bets in relation to China.”

For example, Paliwal points to India’s concern that Bangladesh purchased submarines from China and allowed China to invest heavily in Dhaka’s infrastructure projects. India is also concerned that Hasina has created a political turmoil for herself in Bangladesh which could in the future allow China to dislodge India from its influential perch.

US and India’s view on Bangladesh

A lot has been written about the US policy towards Bangladesh, its imposition of sanctions on the Rapid Action Battalion and its senior officers and more recently its push for “free and fair elections” in Bangladesh, culminating in its introduction of an election visa policy that allowed the US to stop those who interfered with fair elections from getting US visas.

Paliwal, however, thought that US pre-election visa policy was in fact “very cautious”. The US “did not name the individuals sanctioned. Only the individuals who were sanctioned knew.”

The US State Department, he said, thought that supporting free and fair elections in Bangladesh aligned with its global stance against authoritarianism and that there was a wider risk that Sheikh Hasina’s centralised use of state authority — preventing a peaceful transfer of power — could enable China to get the upper hand in Bangladesh, which India would in the end not be able to counter.

Regarding the US stance on the country’s main opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), Paliwal said, “The US never had a preference for the BNP, though India thinks it does.”

Paliwal said that India and the US policies towards Bangladesh, “don’t interconnect. There is no meeting of minds between the US and India.”

He added that while in India “there is a consensus over policy”, in the US there is a split between on the one hand the State Department and on the other US national security agencies “who are making bottom line calculations [about national security interests] and do not want to rock the boat.”

He thinks that when push comes to shove, “the US is not going to impose blanket sanctions on Bangladesh.” He points to the fact that sanctions take a long time to act, they have unforeseen results, and that once the US used the sanctions, it would have limited leverage as it had already pressed the button.”

He did say however that “targeted sanctions might still come.”

India in current political scenario

In relation to the current political situation, he said that India did try to reach out to the opposition BNP to get them to participate in the election, but that it was “too late and they offered too little”.

He said that Delhi was surprised by BNP’s capacity to endure as a party, and how Tarique Rahman, from exile in London, had been able to get the BNP’s factions together.

India’s foreign policy is generally very conservative, he said. “I think it will support Hasina to the hilt until the ground shifts when a whole new political reality emerges at Hasina’s cost.”

Paliwal, back in November 2023, said that India is the only country close enough to Bangladesh who could use military power quickly if necessary. He pointed out that his research has found that during the Pilkhana mutiny in 2009, India was on the verge of committing troops into Bangladesh to ensure that its military supported Sheikh Hasina, so in an extreme situation, Bangladesh is not off limits for the Indian military.

However, Paliwal thinks that in a real crisis “at most India would undertake some tailored army intervention to save Hasina’s life” if she was under threat.

Nothing more.

Bangladesh Army

There is always in Bangladesh much consideration given to the role of the army. It was only 16 years ago that the army, in effect, pressured the president to announce an emergency, as part of an internationally supported “coup”. This resulted in a two year hiatus of political government, which ended in the election of the Awami League government in 2009.

Paliwal views the current Chief of Army Staff, SM Shafiuddin Ahmed, as someone who is “loyal” to the prime minister and who “prides himself in playing by rules.”

“By rules I mean to the rule that the civil administration is superior to the military.” However, at the same time, he says, it would “not take much to shift” his position and noted that Shafiuddin does have a rivalry with Tarique Siddique, the prime minister’s security affairs advisor.

BNP’s strategy and a black swan event

Back in November, Paliwala said that “Both sides wanted the other to escalate and then to trip. They want the other to over-escalate. The AL wants the BNP to burn more buses. And the BNP wants AL to kill more people.”

He thought that if the army did not intervene (a situation he thought unlikely), the BNP is hoping for a 1996 scenario, in which the election is so discredited, that there is a popular demand for a new election organised under a non-partisan government.

He pointed out that a powerful moment for the BNP will be when its chairperson, Khaleda Zia, dies and Tarique Rahman, her son, would have to decide whether to return from London to Dhaka.

“If he says he wants to go to his mother’s janaza, that could be a powerful moment for the BNP,” Paliwal said. “It could bring millions onto the street. The homecoming of the prodigal son. Whether the government allows him to attend or arrests him at the airport, it would cause all kinds of political problems. Either way, the government is reacting to his politics. It could be a black swan event that no one has really thought about.”

Finally, I asked Paliwal, as I ask everybody, who he thought would win an election if it was free and fair. “The BNP, due mostly to anti-incumbency factors,” he said. “But, AL would give the BNP a good fight.”●

David Bergman (@TheDavidBergman) is a journalist based in Britain who has written widely on Bangladesh. (He was English Editor at Netra News until May 2023)

 

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Why India wants Hasina government to stay - - observerbd.com

www.observerbd.com

Why India wants Hasina government to stay​

Published : Wednesday, 23 August, 2023 at 12:00 AM Count : 584
Samara Ashrat

Washington has been informed that India, a friendly neighbouring democracy, is dissatisfied with the United States' ongoing involvement in the approaching 12thparliamentary elections in democratic Bangladesh.

Because New Delhi believes that a weak Hasina administration in Bangladesh will be bad for India and the United States alike. According to diplomatic sources, New Delhi informed the Biden administration of this at several levels of discussions. In this instance, New Delhi has said that it shares Washington's desire for free and fair elections in Dhaka. However, the different measures being done by America to topple the Hasina administration are in no way beneficial for the general security of India and South Asia as a neighbouring nation.

The diplomatic camp claims that the US struck a deal behind closed doors with Afghanistan without taking into account its minorities, women, or children, and that Afghanistan is now paying the price. The whole region's security structure has been completely upended as a result of the decision to remove US forces from Afghanistan. The north-eastern border area of India is currently under peril. At this point in Afghanistan, the Taliban are at their strongest. The Biden administration has proposed a unique visa policy for Bangladesh exclusively, which New Delhi does not deem to be appropriate at all before of Bangladesh's 12th legislative elections. The diplomatic side contends that by enforcing the rules of its own nation and establishing a unique visa policy for Bangladesh, the American government actively meddled in the domestic affairs of Bangladesh. Additionally, South Block believes that if the US continues with this approach and gives Jamaat-e-Islami a "political concession," fundamentalism would soon take over Dhaka. There won't be a liberal environment as there is now.

Bangladesh would therefore resemble Afghanistan, which will not be pleasant for India, Bangladesh's friendly neighbour. India and Bangladesh are two next door nations.

Bangladesh has the longest land border with India. New Delhi told the Biden administration that if the Jamaat is exposed, just as India's cross-border terrorism may increase, China's influence in Bangladesh will increase a lot, which neither India nor Washington wants. It is believed that the United States has always tried to portray Jamaat as a political Islamic organization. But if Jamaat is given a chance, Bangladesh will become a hotbed of militancy, thereby increasing killings and smuggling across India's border, making it a poison bed for India.

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Bangladesh transit facility with India's north-eastern region, resolution of border problem, electricity import from India, one billion dollar loan by India to Bangladesh, Bhutan-Nepal transit facility with joint support, enclave exchange, issuing visas to 1.5 lakh Bangladeshis in various fields every year are many significant issues. As a result of the friendly relations between Bangladesh and India during the tenure of the Bangladesh Awami League government, many important issues have been resolved by the agreement of the two friendly countries and some issues that are still unresolved, such as the much-discussed Teesta Agreement, are expected to resolve these issues if the Bangladesh Awami League government continues. Besides, new and positive ways will be opened in the sincerity of the two countries. If Sheikh Hasina is re-elected with the support of the people through the 12th National Assembly elections, it is hoped that all the worries will be settled and friendship will be unbroken through beautiful solutions.


Moreover, by expanding the scope of cooperation between the two countries in various fields including border protection, blue-economy, space research, cyber security and economic cooperation, the relationship will be stronger and stronger through the bilateral meeting of the prime ministers of the two friendly countries if the continuity of the Bangladesh Awami League government is maintained.

In this case, India considers the continuation of the current Awami League government in Bangladesh essential for its own interests. As a result of US interference in the internal politics of Bangladesh, the terrorist organization BNP-Jamaat will be able to confuse the situation and come to power in Bangladesh through the back door, which will not be good for both India and Bangladesh. In this situation, the Indian government considers it essential to maintain the continuity of the Bangladesh Awami League government, the pro-liberation force, in order to maintain the long-standing friendly relations with its friendly Bangladesh for its own sake.

Besides, the people of Bangladesh also want to maintain friendly relations with India, a friendly country that cooperated during the liberation war, by maintaining the continuity of the Bangladesh Awami League government, which believes in democracy and the great power of the liberation war. The United States should not interfere in the internal politics of democratic Bangladesh and turn Bangladesh into a second Afghanistan by allowing the pro-Pakistanis to come to power.

The writer is a PhD fellow, International Relations, University of Bucharest​

 

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Awami League’s glorification of India unbecoming
Published: 00:00, Mar 18,2024

WHAT the ruling Awami League’s general secretary Obaidul Quader has said about the national elections, held on January 7, noting that no powerful country could interfere as India stood strongly beside the Awami League appears to be premised on a wrong basis, sounds illogical and is, therefore, unbecoming of him. What the Awami League’s general secretary, also the road transport and bridge minister, at the biennial conference of the Bangladesh Puja Celebrations Council in Dhaka that took place on March 16, has said also glorifies India — which has supported all three national elections of Bangladesh in 2024, 2018 and 2014 that were somehow tainted by being neither non-participatory and representative nor free and fair. Such glorification of India by the secretary general of Bangladesh’s ruling party also contradicts with aspirations of Bangladeshis as all the three national elections at hand have had a role by varying measure in the trampling of citizen’s electoral rights, finally leading to the disenfranchisement of citizens to such a point that the Election Commission has had to make a strong case for even a debatable face-saving voter turnout, which almost none believed.

No one — none of the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union — is reported to have been trying to interfere in Bangladesh’s national elections. What they all wanted was that the elections should be participatory, inclusive, representative, free and fair. It is the ruling party stalwarts and ranking government functionaries that have often claimed that the foreign powers have wanted to interfere in the national elections. It, rather, appears incidental that what the powerful international quarters wanted — free, fair, participatory and representative elections in Bangladesh — largely matched the aspirations of Bangladeshis, outside the ruling quarters, who could not, and could not properly, exercise their voting rights for a long time. And, now, it is the ruling party leaders that say, without naming but alluding to them, that foreign powers could not interfere in the elections as India strongly stood by the Awami League. The minister has also said that India has not interfered. But supporting the Awami League in holding one-sided elections for three consecutive occasions could well mean that India has, rather, interfered with the aspirations of millions of Bangladeshis. The ruling party’s general secretary at the conference has also said that the relations between Bangladesh and India has now reached a new height where problems such as border death issues have been resolved through discussions and progress has been made in the Teesta water sharing agreement. Indian border guards have, in fact, kept killing Bangladeshis — 30 in 2023, 23 in 2022 and 16 in 2021 — indicating rather an increase. As for Teesta water, India has not only put on hold the signing of the water sharing treatment, which both New Delhi and Dhaka agreed on in 2010, India is also reported to have built at least 30 dams and a barrage upstream the river, never having cared to let Bangladesh know of its obstructing the natural flow of the cross-border river.

It is time the Awami League came out of its India appeasement policy and, rather, cared for the interests of the citizens of Bangladesh.​

 

[Saif]

আপস হয়ে গেছে, দিল্লি আছে আমরা আছি: ওবায়দুল কাদের

তিনি বলেন, শেখ হাসিনা বঙ্গবন্ধুর কন্যা এমন ভারসাম্য সবার সাথে করে ফেলেছেন, আর কোনো চিন্তা নাই। ইলেকশন হবে, যথাসময়ে হবে।

bangla.thedailystar.net

আপস হয়ে গেছে, দিল্লি আছে আমরা আছি: ওবায়দুল কাদের​

তিনি বলেন, শেখ হাসিনা বঙ্গবন্ধুর কন্যা এমন ভারসাম্য সবার সাথে করে ফেলেছেন, আর কোনো চিন্তা নাই। ইলেকশন হবে, যথাসময়ে হবে।
আমিনবাজারে আওয়ামী লীগের শান্তি সমাবেশে বক্তব্য দেন ওবায়দুল কাদের।

আমিনবাজারে আওয়ামী লীগের শান্তি সমাবেশে বক্তব্য দেন ওবায়দুল কাদের। ছবি: স্টার

বাংলাদেশ আওয়ামী লীগের সাধারণ সম্পাদক এবং সড়ক পরিবহন ও সেতুমন্ত্রী ওবায়দুল কাদের বলেছেন, কোথায় স্যাংশন কোথায় ভিসা নীতি। তলে তলে আপস হয়ে গেছে। দিল্লি আছে, আমেরিকারও দিল্লিকে দরকার। দিল্লি আছে আমরা আছি। শত্রুতা কারো সঙ্গে হবে না সবার সঙ্গে বন্ধুত্ব হবে। শেখ হাসিনা সবার সঙ্গে বন্ধুত্ব করে ফেলেছেন।

আজ মঙ্গলবার সন্ধ্যায় রাজধানীর প্রবেশমুখ আমিনবাজারে ঢাকা জেলা আওয়ামী লীগের আয়োজনে 'বিএনপি-জামায়াতের সন্ত্রাস, জঙ্গিবাদ, নৈরাজ্য, অপরাজনীতি ও অব্যাহত দেশবিরোধী ষড়যন্ত্রের' বিরুদ্ধে আয়োজিত শান্তি সমাবেশে ওবায়দুল কাদের এসব কথা বলেছেন।​

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তিনি বলেন, 'বিএনপি এখন পথ হারিয়ে দিশাহারা। কীসে দিশাহারা? দুই সেলফিতেই বাজিমাত। একটি সেলফি দিল্লিতে আরেক সেলফি নিউইয়র্কে। শেখ হাসিনা ও তার মেয়ে পুতুল জো বাইডেনের সেলফি, প্রথমে দিল্লি পরে নিউইয়র্ক, দুই সেলফিতেই বাজিমাত।'

ওবায়দুল কাদের বলেন, 'শেখ হাসিনা বঙ্গবন্ধুর কন্যা এমন ভারসাম্য সবার সাথে করে ফেলেছেন, আর কোনো চিন্তা নাই। ইলেকশন হবে, যথাসময়ে হবে। অক্টোবর থেকে, এই মাস থেকে শুরু।

আগামী মাসে সেমিফাইনাল, জানুয়ারিতে ফাইনাল। বিএনপি এখন ফাউল করতেছে, ফাউল করলে হলুদ কার্ড, ফাউল করলে লাল কার্ড। খেলা নিয়ে ফাউল করা চলবে না।'

'বিএনপি খালেদা জিয়াকে ছাড়া ইলেকশন করবে না, না করুক। এতদিন কই ছিল? খালেদা জিয়া বছরের পর বছর জেলে। তার জন্য একটা আন্দোলনও করতে পারল না ফখরুল। আর এখন খালেদা জিয়া ছাড়া নির্বাচন করবে না,' যোগ করেন তিনি।

তিনি বলেন, 'শেখ হাসিনা নাকি নিষ্ঠুরতা দেখাচ্ছে, কেমন নিষ্ঠুরতা? ১৫ই আগস্টে বঙ্গবন্ধুর পরিবারকে তারা রক্তাক্ত করেছে। শেখ হাসিনা, শেখ রেহানা সেদিন বিদেশে ছিলেন বলে বেঁচে গিয়েছিলেন। নিষ্ঠুর কারা? যারা এইদেশে জাতির পিতাকে হত্যা করেছে, জেলখানায় ৪ নেতাকে হত্যা করেছে, শেখ হাসিনাকে হত্যা করার জন্য গ্রেনেড হামলা চালিয়েছিল। কে করেছে এই কাজ? হাওয়া ভবন। খালেদা জিয়ার ছেলে তারেক জিয়া। শেখ হাসিনাকে হত্যা করতে চেয়েছে।'

'শেখ হাসিনাকে এ পর্যন্ত ২০ বার হত্যার ষড়যন্ত্র হয়েছে' উল্লেখ করে ওবায়দুল কাদের প্রশ্ন করেন, 'বেগম জিয়াকে কি একবারও কেউ হত্যা করতে গিয়েছে? বেগম জিয়ার জীবনের ওপর একবারও কি হামলা হয়েছে? আওয়ামী লীগ তা করবে না। কারণ আওয়ামী লীগ হত্যার ষড়যন্ত্রের রাজনীতিতে বিশ্বাস করে না। আওয়ামী লীগ ষড়যন্ত্র করে না। কিন্তু আওয়ামী লীগ বারবার ষড়যন্ত্রের শিকার হয়। এখনো আওয়ামী লীগের বিরুদ্ধে ষড়যন্ত্র চলছে।'

দেশে নিত্যপ্রয়োজনীয় দ্রব্যমূল্যের ঊর্ধ্বগতি প্রসঙ্গে মন্ত্রী বলেন, 'জিনিসপত্রের দামের আজ যে ঊর্ধ্বগতি, সেই দাম যেন কমে সেজন্য শেখ হাসিনা অবিরাম চেষ্টা করে যাচ্ছেন। জিনিসপত্রের দাম এখন একটু বেশি, সারা দুনিয়ায় বেশি। শেখ হাসিনা চেষ্টা করে যাচ্ছেন, ইনশাল্লাহ নির্বাচনের মধ্যে দাম একটু একটু করে কমে যাবে। মানুষের ক্রয়ক্ষমতার মধ্যে জিনিসপত্রের দাম চলে আসবে, চিন্তা করবেন না।'

তিনি বলেন, 'খালেদা জিয়া ছাড়া নির্বাচনে যাবে না, আর কত হুমকি, অক্টোবর মাস তো চলে যাচ্ছে, ৪৮ ঘণ্টার আলটিমেটাম বুড়িগঙ্গায় ভেসে গেছে। আন্দোলনের নামে বিএনপি নেতারা দিশেহারা হয়ে ঘুরে বেড়ান।'

'আমেরিকার রিপাবলিকান ইনস্টিটিউট এক সমীক্ষায় মন্তব্য করেছে, এই মুহূর্তে ভোট হলে ৭০ শতাংশ লোক শেখ হাসিনাকে ভোট দেবে,' বলেন তিনি।

ওবায়দুল কাদের বলেন, 'বঙ্গবন্ধুর কন্যার ওপর আস্থা রাখবেন। তার মতো নেতা আর নাই। ৪৮ বছরে শেখ হাসিনার মত এমন জনপ্রিয় নেতা, সৎ নেতা বাংলাদেশে আর আসে নাই।'

'বিএনপির দম ফুরিয়ে গেছে। ওদের দিয়ে আর আন্দোলনও হবে না, নির্বাচনও হবে না। ভোট হবে, ভোট বাংলাদেশে হবে, যে যত ষড়যন্ত্রই করুক, নির্বাচন বাংলাদেশে হবেই ইনশাআল্লাহ। সুষ্ঠু নির্বাচন হবে, অবাধ নির্বাচন হবে, ফ্রি ফেয়ার নির্বাচন হবে,' যোগ করেন তিনি।

'আওয়ামী লীগ নিষেধাজ্ঞার পরোয়া করে না' উল্লেখ করে ওবায়দুল কাদের বলেন, 'আমরা ভিসা নীতির পরোয়া করি না। আমরা ঠিক আছি, আমরা তো শান্তিপূর্ণ নির্বাচন চাই। কেন তাহলে ভিসা নীতি, কেন তাহলে নিষেধাজ্ঞা।'

তিনি বলেন, 'কেউ নিষেধাজ্ঞা দেবেন না, নিষেধাজ্ঞার ধামকি দেবেন না। নিষেধাজ্ঞা শেষ। দেখেন না ফখরুল সাহেবের গলার আওয়াজ নরম হয়ে গেছে।'

বিএনপি ক্ষমতায় এলে আবারও লুটপাট করবে উল্লেখ করে মন্ত্রী বলেন, 'মানুষ বুঝে গেছে, বিএনপির লাফালাফি-বাড়াবাড়িতে জনগণের কোনো লাভ নাই। এই চোরারা চুরি করার জন্য আবারও দুর্নীতি করবে, লুটপাট করবে, আবারও ভোটচুরি করবে। ক্ষমতায় এলে বিএনপি গণতন্ত্র গিলে খাবে।'

ওবায়দুল কাদের বলেন, 'ডিসেম্বরে বলেছিল খালেদা জিয়া দেশ চালাবে। ৯ মাস চলে গেছে। এখন খালেদা জিয়া চিকিৎসার জন্য শেখ হাসিনার কাছে আবেদন করে। ৪-৫ বছর হাজিরা পর্যন্ত দেয়নি। এতদিন খালেদা জিয়ার মামলার ফয়সালা হয়ে যেত হয়ত মুক্তিও পেত। কিন্তু মামলা ফয়সালা হয়নি শুধু বিএনপির জন্য। বিএনপি মামলা ঝুলিয়ে রেখেছে৷ আদালতে ঝুলিয়ে রেখেছে, খালেদা জিয়াকে দেখিয়ে যদি কিছু করা যায়।'

শিগগির গাবতলী ব্রিজ হয়ে যাবে উল্লেখ করে সেতুমন্ত্রী বলেন, 'আমিনবাজারের ব্রিজগুলো একে একে সব হয়ে গেছে। গাবতলি ব্রিজও শিগগির হয়ে যাবে। গাজীপুরের বাস র‍্যাপিড ট্রানজিটও হয়ে যাবে। আগামী বছর লাইনের ওপর বাস চলবে। সুদিন আবার আসবেই। সুখ চাইলে একটু কষ্ট লাগেই। এই কষ্ট বেশিদিন থাকবে না।'

ঢাকা জেলা আওয়ামী লীগের সভাপতি ও ঢাকা-২০ আসনের সংসদ সদস্য বেনজীর আহমেদ সভাপতিত্বে ও ঢাকা জেলা আওয়ামী লীগের সাধারণ সম্পাদক পনিরুজ্জামান তরুণের সঞ্চালনায় সমাবেশে বিশেষ অতিথি হিসেবে উপস্থিত ছিলেন, আওয়ামী লীগের সভাপতিমণ্ডলীর সদস্য কামরুল ইসলাম, জাহাঙ্গীর কবির নানক, দলের যুগ্ম-সাধারণ সম্পাদক আ ফ ম বাহাউদ্দিন নাছিম, সাংগঠনিক সম্পাদক মির্জা, ঢাকা-১৯ আসনের সংসদ সদস্য ও দুর্যোগ ব্যবস্থাপনা ও ত্রাণ প্রতিমন্ত্রী ডা. এনামুর রহমান।​

 

[Vikings]

@Saif , I would like to see where Hasina herself said that India is supporting her or India wants her to stay in power? Could you please show me? Thank you!

 

[Saif]

@Saif , I would like to see where Hasina herself said that India is supporting her or India wants her to stay in power? Could you please show me? Thank you!

Could you please show me where Hasina had said that China was supporting her to stay in power? Whatever Obaidul Kader said about Indian influence in the election was actually what Hasina had told him to say. No prime minister in the world ever acknowledges foreign help in the election in public.

 

[Vikings]

Could you please show me where Hasina had said that China was supporting her to stay in power? Whatever Obaidul Kader said about Indian influence in the election was actually what Hasina had told him to say. No prime minister in the world ever acknowledges foreign help in the election in public.

Exactly, no PM will ever do it , all are from his/her lackeys who are claiming so!

But it's only because, it's very convenient to go with the standard storyline!

I hope you didn't forget the statement of Obaidul Kader against sheikh Hasina, when he was captured after 1/11!

These people are fair weather friends , and Hasina knows it very well!

This thread of @Old School bhai ( source is an article of Manab zamin ) explains the relationship between BNP and India nicely! I've tagged you on that thread!

The article also suggested that what oppositions want! They actually want good relationship with India!

[🇧🇩] - Why BNP's talks with India failed

Observers believe that the 10-truck arms ( Chittagong, 2004) is the main reason for the BNP's cold relations with India to date. There is criticism that the BNP government was forced to seize those weapons under pressure from India. Otherwise, it would have gone into the hands of Indian...

www.pkdefense.com