Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said that a comfortable environment has been arranged for Khaleda Zia in jail.
"A comfortable environment has been arranged for her in jail,” the prime minister said while addressing a reception at Metro Toronto Convention Centre in Canada on Sunday.
Hasina said, “I've no right to release Khaleda Zia from jail as it's the jurisdiction of the court. Their (BNP's) big lawyers should solve it moving to the court."
She said that Khaleda Zia was convicted in the court after the trial process continued for 10 years. "But, big lawyers failed to prove that Khaleda didn't embezzle orphans' money."
Canada Awami League arranged the reception where Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and AL Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif were also present. Canada Awami League President Golam Mohammad Mahmud Miah presided over the event.
At the event, the prime minister said Bangladesh will become a failed state again if the anti-liberation forces return to power.
"If the anti-liberation forces and patrons of killers return to power, the country will become a failed one again," she said.
She said today Bangladesh is marching forward and the trend of this progress should continue. "The country can't be developed unless there is continuation of the government."
Talking about her party's election manifesto, Sheikh Hasina 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."
"When our country makes progress, we get such invitations," the PM said adding that she also got invitations and joined G7 Outreach Session in 2001 and 2016.
Hasina said her government is working aiming to ensure the development and welfare of the country's people.
She said her government has placed a Tk 4.64 trillion national budget for the 2018-19 fiscal, but once the budget size was only Tk 610 billion.
In the proposed budget, the size of the annual development programme (ADP) is Tk 1.73 trillion, which was only Tk 0.19 trillion. Some 90 per cent of ADP cost now comes from government funds, she added.
In the past, the prices of essentials used to go up with the announcement of national budget. "But, now the prices remain under control as the present government has been able to bring down the inflation at 5.6 per cent."
Now, she mentioned, the per capita income in Bangladesh has increased to US$ 1752.
Coming down heavily on BNP, the prime minister said they do not see any development of Bangladesh, but they enjoy the benefits of the development.
