Toronto Correspondent: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said her government will fight in the Canadian court for the deportation of Noor Chowdhury, a self-confessed and convicted killer of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
“We want to execute the sentences of the convicted killers as they are curses of Bangladesh,” she said. She was addressing a reception, organised by Canada Awami League, at Metro Toronto Convention Centre on Sunday, reports BSS.
The PM’s comments came hours after she reiterated her request for Noor’s deportation during a meeting with her Canadian counterpart Justine Trudeau.
UNB adds: Hasina said Bangladesh would become a failed state again if the anti-liberation forces and patrons of killers returned to power.
She said Bangladesh was marching forward and the trend should continue. “The country can’t be developed unless there is continuation of the government.”
About her party’s election manifesto, she said they did much more than what they wanted to do. “As Bangladesh is making progress, it now gets invitation to join the G7 Outreach Session.”
The premier said her government was working to ensure the development and welfare of the country’s people.
The AL government placed a Tk 464,573 crore national budget for the 2018-19 fiscal, but once the budget size was only Tk 61,000 crore, she added.
In the past, the prices of essentials used to go up with the announcement of national budget, Hasina told the programme. “But now the prices remain under control as the present government has been able to bring down the inflation to 5.6 percent.”
She mentioned that the per capita income in Bangladesh has increased to $1752.
Coming down heavily on BNP, the PM said they did not see any development of Bangladesh, but they enjoyed the benefits of the development.
About Khaleda Zia, she said the BNP chairperson was convicted in the court after the trial had continued for 10 years. “But the leading lawyers failed to prove that Khaleda didn’t embezzle orphans’ money.”
“A comfortable environment has been arranged for her in jail. I have no right to release Khaleda Zia from jail as it is the jurisdiction of the court. Their [BNP’s] leading lawyers should solve it by moving to the court,” Hasina said.
Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and AL Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif also spoke at the programme, chaired by Canada AL President Golam Mohammad Mahmud Miah.
‘DEPORT NOOR CHOWDHURY’
Hasina had a meeting with Canadian PM Justin Trudeau at his residence in Quebec on Sunday, reports UNB.
Briefing reporters after the meeting, PM’s Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim said the Bangladesh PM requested Trudeau to take immediate action on the deportation of Noor Chowdhury.
The PM told Trudeau that Noor had been living in Canada and he was convicted under the law of Bangladesh.
She requested for the immediate deportation of Noor to Bangladesh saying that Bangladeshis could not accept the killer’s impunity from justice.
Expressing his compassion to Hasina, Trudeau said, “I understand how painful it is for you. Noor Chowdhury has no citizenship status in Canada…he is not a citizen of Canada.”
Pointing at his country’s legal system about the deportation of a death row convict, Trudeau said Canadian officials were quietly engaged in dealing with the issue.
Hasina thanked the Canadian government for extending support and assistance to her government on the Rohingya crisis.
She said Myanmar signed the agreement with Bangladesh for the repatriation of Rohingyas, but it remained silent when the question of implementation of the agreement came.
She said her government has decided to relocate the Rohingyas from hilltops to a safer place in Bhashanchar so that they can live in a better condition.
Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, PM’s Principal Secretary Md Nojibur Rahman and Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque were present at the meeting.
