“By parachute or helicopter?” Rizvi mocks Hasina’s December return plan

BNP Acting Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Sunday mocked Sheikh Hasina's announcement that she would return to Bangladesh in December, asking whether the ousted prime minister planned to arrive by parachute or helicopter.

"She keeps announcing from Hindustan that she will return. But where will she land? By parachute or helicopter? In Dhaka or Gopalganj? Please tell us where you will land," Rizvi said.

He warned that Hasina would face trial for every killing committed during her rule if she returned.

"Before the martyrs' blood has dried on this soil, Sheikh Hasina is announcing her return from Hindustan," he said. "She may come, but the government, laws and courts of this country will ensure the rule of law for everyone. That was the pledge of the democratic movement. Every killing by Sheikh Hasina will be tried."

Rizvi was speaking at a programme organised by the Jatiyatabadi Ulama Dal at BNP's Naya Paltan headquarters in Dhaka. The organisation distributed free educational materials among madrasa students to mark National Revolution and Solidarity Day, observed on November 7.

Referring to the killing of student protester Abu Sayeed during the July 2024 uprising, Rizvi accused Hasina of ordering deadly repression.

"She had Abu Sayeed martyred and had law enforcers fire from helicopters. Will these crimes, these killings, go unpunished?" he asked.

'November 7 spirit behind July uprising'

Rizvi drew parallels between the soldiers-and-people's uprising of November 7, 1975, and the mass movement that toppled Hasina in August 2024.

He said both uprisings were driven by resistance to political repression and attempts to bring Bangladesh under foreign domination.

"There were attempts to suppress the opposition, keep the people subjugated and place the country under another country's control. The revolution was against those attempts," he said.

Rizvi alleged that Hasina had subjected Bangladesh to 17 years of authoritarian rule, marked by enforced disappearances, killings and clandestine executions.

He said the people were eventually forced to rise again against the government.

Recalling Ziaur Rahman's leadership, Rizvi said the former president had restored political space for multiple parties, revived industries and increased agricultural production.

He credited Zia with extensive canal excavation, agricultural expansion and improvements in law and order.

"People could sleep with their doors open," Rizvi said, adding that Zia had introduced village police and women police.

"But conspirators did not remain idle. They killed one of the country's greatest patriots," he said.

Rizvi alleged that Hussain Muhammad Ershad subsequently seized power through national and international conspiracies, dealing another blow to democracy.

He credited Khaleda Zia with restoring democratic politics through the nine-year movement that culminated in Ershad's fall in 1990.

Swipe at Mashrafe, rival parties

Rizvi also took aim at former national cricket captain and Awami League lawmaker Mashrafe Bin Mortaza.

He said Mashrafe had once claimed that Narail would not exist without Sheikh Hasina.

"Is there no Narail in Bangladesh now?" Rizvi asked.

He accused Hasina of surrounding herself with sycophants and flatterers while seeking to remain in power indefinitely.

"She won election after election without votes and thought everything was fine. But she failed to understand the strength of the people," he said.

"That mistake brought her disgraceful downfall, and she had to flee Bangladesh."

Turning to BNP's political principles, Rizvi described the party's approach as the "straight path", or Sirat-ul-Mustaqim.

He said Khaleda Zia had never broken a political pledge, nor had Tarique Rahman.

"Some people do politics in the name of Islam, but they break promises at every step and with every word," he said, without naming any party.

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