Sheikh Hasina: “There’ll be no place for terrorists and militants in Bangladesh...”

By Mizan Rahman
Dhaka
Accusing opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) chairperson Khaleda Zia of conspiring to tarnish the image of the country by killing foreign nationals, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said the killers of two foreign nationals will be hunted down and put on trial.
“There’ll be no place for terrorists and militants in Bangladesh … we’ll surely find out the killers of the foreign nationals, no matter who they are, and bring them under the purview of law,” she said.
The prime minister was addressing a reception at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) in Dhaka.
Hasina warned that the government will not allow those engaged in the killing of foreign nationals and tarnish the country’s image.
“You must remember one thing, the government will take stern action against those who are engaged in patronising terrorists and militants.”
She said her government wants to maintain a peaceful situation in the country so that the children could attend their schools, people can live a peaceful life, businesspeople can do their business properly and the country can maintain its march forward without any disturbance.
“When the country is marching forward, a section of people is not happy at all with that,” she said, adding: “At a time when Bangladesh is getting recognition, such heinous incidents are being carried … we can feel that. We have information what type of evil deeds are going on.”
Japanese citizen Hoshi Kunio was shot dead in Rangpur on October 3, five days after the killing of Italian citizen Cesare Tavella in Dhaka’s Gulshan area.
Recalling the destructive politics of BNP-Jamaat alliance in the name of anti-government movement that claimed the lives of hundreds of people, the prime minister said the BNP chief conspired to kill foreign nationals in Bangladesh as she realised that burning innocent people has failed to yield any result for her.
“Now she (Zia) is conspiring from abroad to kill foreigners living in Bangladesh. They’re now engaged in tarnishing the country’s image through killing foreigners. This is just an enmity with the country and its people,” she said.