Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Monday urged the public university teachers not to hamper the aca-demic activities of students by enforcing any strike in their universities.
Prime Minister warned today to the agitating public university teachers against causing any damage to the education life of thousands of students.Students will not accept it if you continue protests against the new pay scale boycotting classes, Hasina said while addressing a rally marking Bangabandhu’s Homecoming Day in Dhaka.
There’s no reason to be unhappy after a salary hike by 123 percent … teachers shouldn’t continue movement hampering the students’ academic life, she said while addressing a rally at Suhrawardy Udyan marking the Bangabandhu’s Homecoming Day.
Over the recent protests by students and teachers against Metro Rail route through Dhaka University campus, Hasina said the route has been chosen for the benefit of students.
About war criminals, she said a section is out to obstruct their trial but no conspiracy can thwart that.
She also blasted her archrival BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia for raising question about the death toll of martyrs in 1971 Liberation War. Khaleda Zia loves Pakistan and so she speaks in the same tune of the then occupation forces. How dare you (Khaleda), Hasina said.
Khaleda politically rehabilitated those who were against the country’s independence. Ziaur Rahman’s came to power violating the constitution…he was an illegal president, so is his party,” she added.
Earlier, the ruling Awami League’s central leaders delivered their speeches at the rally with Hasina, also chief of the party, in the chair.
Health Minister Mohammad Nasim, Presidium member Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury, AL Advisory Council member Suranjit Sengupta and Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu deliv-ered their addresses.
Thousands of people leaders, activists and supporters of the ruling party thronged the rally since morning, causing a huge traffic congestion on the city streets. The Homecoming Day of Bangabandhu was on January 10 but the party a few days ago decided to hold the rally today due to the first phase of Biswa Ijtema which ended yesterday.
Bangabandhu became the undisputed leader of the then Pakistan through AL’s landslide victory in the general elections of 1970s and was arrested by the Pakistani army on March 25, 1971 from his Dhanmondi residence during a late night crackdown on East Pakistanis.
He was kept in a West Pakistani jail while the nation fought the Liberation War for nine months to achieve victory on December 16, 1971. On the day in 1972, the Pakistani junta was compelled to free Bangabandhu.