Staff Reporter :
Advocate Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Senior Joint General Secretary of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP), has expressed concerns that India is supporting the ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina solely for its own strategic interests, disregarding the welfare of Bangladesh and will of its people.
He made these remarks while inaugurating a relief distribution programme in front of the BNP’s Naya Paltan headquarters on Monday.
Rizvi accused India of providing shelter to Sheikh Hasina, whom he labelled as a dictator responsible for genocide, in order to advance its own agenda. According to him, India’s actions indicate that they are more interested in maintaining their influence through Hasina than in the well-being of the Bangladeshi people.
He further criticised Sheikh Hasina, alleging that she has embezzled vast amounts of money through so-called mega projects, a claim he said was also supported by Salman F Rahman. Rizvi questioned the financial activities of Hasina’s family members living abroad, suggesting that their wealth has been acquired through illicit means and that their luxurious lifestyle is funded by money looted from Bangladesh.
Rizvi also condemned what he described as the co-opting of the media and business sectors by the Awami League, the party led by Sheikh Hasina. He claimed that the government has imprisoned legitimate media owners and replaced them with Awami League affiliates, and that law enforcement agencies have been used to suppress dissent, resulting in the deaths of thousands of students and innocent people.
In his address, Rizvi criticised India, a nation he described as democratic, for supporting Sheikh Hasina despite her alleged human rights abuses and establishment of a one-party system in Bangladesh. He questioned India’s commitment to democracy and human rights, given its support for Hasina, and accused it of neglecting the aspirations and rights of the Bangladeshi people.
Rizvi affirmed that despite the challenges, the BNP has remained steadfast in its movement against the Hasina-led government, refusing to surrender even in the face of imprisonment and oppression.
Leaders and activists of the BNP and its affiliated organisations were present during the relief distribution programme.