Home Affairs Adviser Brig Gen (retd) Sakhawat Hussain yesterday advised the Awami League leaders and activists not to do anything that may put their lives in danger and to reorganise the party with fresh faces.
He was talking to reporters after visiting injured Ansar members at the Combined Military Hospital.
“No one has banned your [AL] party. Banning any party is a bad culture,” he added.
Mentioning the contribution of AL, the home adviser said, “We cannot deny it. Reorganise the party, participate when the election comes.”
“People of the country have not forgotten [AL misrule] so easily. Give them time, they may forget. Those who you considered your leaders are now on the run,” he said.
Sakhawat urged all political parties to take measures to stop conflicts, including attacks on minorities. He also said the ministry would help all political parties if they initiate reforms and bring fresh faces.
The home adviser said former prime minister Sheikh Hasina was not forced to leave the country, she left willingly.
Addressing Hasina, he said, “This is your country; why don’t you come back. Your citizenship was not revoked. You have served as the prime minister for 21 years. You left the country willingly, no one asked you to do so… we all respect you.”
He, however, warned that there would be no gain in stirring up trouble and rather it would only agitate people further.
Sakhawat said after the fall of Jatiyo Party leader HM Ershad, he was given the option to either leave the country or go to jail. Ershad chose to go to jail and thus saved his party.
Coming back to AL, he said, “It is a big party. I have a lot of respect for the party, which used to belong to the middle class secular people.”
“The leader of such a great party (Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman) led this country to independence. There is no doubt about it. No one should have doubts… This party had collapsed in such a way that the leaders and workers had to go into hiding.”
Mentioning that around 400 to 500 people from all sides including police and Ansar were killed, he said, “We don’t want anymore deaths.”
Pointing at AL, he further said, “Don’t do this. I am requesting you not to be manipulated by someone. Don’t ruin this party for personal gain. This was Bangabandhu’s dream, you have no right to destroy it. It is the property of Bangladesh.”
“If you dream that you will come back with a counter revolution, that would require the blood of thousands of people. If you want to take that responsibility, then I have nothing to do.”
The adviser said the students, not any political parties, were behind the revolution which toppled Hasina’s regime.
“They have given their lives, which you could never have done — standing in front of a police officer’s gun. They have no regrets. They (the youth) will confront you (the counter-revolutionaries). Please keep the country independent.”
