Speaker of the National Parliament, Major (Retd.) Hafiz Uddin Ahmad (Bir Bikram), said Saturday that widespread corruption drove public resentment against Bangladeshi politicians. Speaking at a civil society exchange meeting at Lalmohan Upazila Parishad Auditorium around 11:00 AM, he claimed Awami League leaders and unelected MPs amassed properties in villages, Dhaka and abroad under the guise of politics.
He alleged that actions over the past 17 years led to former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the Chief Justice and the Imam of Baitul Mukarram Mosque fleeing the country also adding that around 600 police officers took shelter in cantonments during that period.
Referring to former Inspector General of Police Benazir Ahmed Speaker alleged he transferred large landholdings to family members and occupied forest land including building a seven-storey structure near his daughter's college in Gulshan.
Calling Sheikh Hasina "the world's best actress" Hafiz Uddin alleged she publicly comforted families of the forcibly disappeared while allegedly knowing their whereabouts. He said international tribunal testimony has since implicated her in ordering these disappearances.
The Speaker also claimed that Bangladesh's drug crisis emerged only during the last 17 years of Awami League rule with asserting no such problem existed during his six consecutive terms as MP up to 2006.
Upazila BNP President Md. Zafar Iqbal the General Secretary Shafiqul Islam Babul Panchayat, Municipal BNP President Alhaj Sadek Jantu, General Secretary Kamruzzaman Babul Patwary and Jubo Dal President Shahinul Islam Kabir Howlader attended the meeting.
