KM Hasan unacceptable to head caretaker govt: Hasina
Staff Correspondent
Opposition Leader Sheikh Hasina yesterday said Justice KM Hasan violated the constitution and breached the oaths by not hearing the Bangabandhu murder case, and raised questions about his credibility to conduct the next election as chief advisor to the caretaker government."How will this person [Justice Hasan] protect people's fundamental right to vote as he is a relative of the killers of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and felt embarrassed to hear the murder case?" Hasina said while addressing a discussion on the 30th death anniversary of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman organised by the Bangabandhu Parishad at the Engineers' Institute in the city. "How can a justice feel embarrassed to hear a case while he took oath to keep himself beyond any family tie with anyone?" she said. The present government extended the retirement age of justices in a planned way to get a loyal person as the chief of caretaker government and rig the election, she said. The AL chief also questioned the neutrality of Justice MA Aziz as the chief election commissioner. "Bangabandhu's murder was not merely the act of a few army officers...the defeated forces of the Liberation War and even some freedom fighters were involved in the conspiracy to eliminate the spirit of the Liberation War," she said. The AL leader made an oblique reference to late president Ziaur Rahman of masterminding the murder, saying, "What was the role of General Ziaur Rahman, who was picked as the chief of army just after the killing of Bangabandhu and took over power after a few months?" Being a freedom fighter, Ziaur Rahman rehabilitated the Razakars by grabbing state power and halted the trial of the war criminals, she alleged. The former prime minister urged all pro-liberation and progressive forces to launch a united movement against the BNP-Jamaat-led coalition to free the nation from the clutches of misrule. Hasina said the ruling BNP lawmakers have been repressing journalists across the country. "This government has turned the country into a den of criminals. Bangladesh is now being treated as a country of violence and widespread repression on journalists," she said. Presided over by National Professor Kabir Chowdhury, the discussion was also addressed by Prof Nurul Islam, journalist Golam Sarwar, Advocate Mahbub-e-Alam and Bangabandhu Parishad President SA Malek.
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