BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi has claimed that poison was “mixed into the food” of the party’s Chairperson Khaleda Zia while she was in prison.
He made the allegation on Saturday morning at an event held at the Mirer Khil School grounds in Hathazari.
Rizvi said Sheikh Hasina considered Khaleda Zia an obstacle in her path. Various attempts were made to remove her. “Many say poison was mixed into her food in jail,” he said.
He said Sheikh Hasina enjoyed power for herself and for her son and family, amassing a vast stock of gold. Her people looted state-owned banks and smuggled the money abroad.
“Even after leaving the country, she could not take the stored gold with her,” he said.
Speaking about the post–5 August situation, he said weapons are clattering, killings are taking place and students are dying. With the election approaching, he urged the government to act strictly to curb social terrorism.
On expatriate voters, Rizvi said that among nearly 10 million Bangladeshis living abroad, only 75,000 are registered as voters. He called for allowing voting using passports.
Referring to the Fakhruddin–Moinuddin government, cases, attacks and the “torture” Khaleda Zia faced in prison, Rizvi said that despite threats, conspiracies and intimidation, Khaleda Zia did not leave the country.
“Even torture in prison and poisoning her food could not keep her away from the people,” he said.
The event was organised by Amra BNP Poribar as part of humanitarian assistance for BNP activists killed and injured in the July movement in Chattogram. Support was provided to the families of seven people killed as well as to others injured.
