Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that her country is ready to face the challenges of Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan. “There is nothing to be worried about Afghanistan. At a time when Taliban was emerging, many have received training from Afghanistan to spread militancy in Bangladesh.

“We are ready to face such challenges. We have to remain vigilant so that change of power in this SAARC country does not affect Bangladesh,” she said. PM Hasina also said the indiscriminate killing of armed forces officers during the dictatorship of military ruler and opposition Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)’s founder Ziaur Rahman, should be investigated. “Nearly 2,000 armed force officers were killed. As the demand for investigation into the killing has been raised, I think a step should be taken in this regard. Public opinion should also be drummed up,” she told reporters at a virtual briefing from her official residence Ganabhaban.

PM Hasina slammed BNP for its continuous efforts to make elections questionable and controversial as she said top leaders of the party are not able to contest the polls due to their conviction. “How will a party win the polls? Where is their leadership? One person is accused of embezzling money meant for orphans while another one is a fugitive and sentenced to life term in jail in a grenade attack case. Why will people cast votes for the party?” she said.

PM Hasina, also the President of the ruling Awami League (AL), asked what have people got from the BNP, which had turned the country into “a champion of corruption for five times in a row and a safe haven for acts of militancy”. “Who will cast votes for that party? BNP knows it very well that they do not have any possibility of winning the polls. That’s why they are trying to make elections controversial,” she said.