Govt tried to thwart my meeting with Modi
Khaleda tells The Sunday Guardian
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has claimed that the government tried to thwart her meeting with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi during his recent visit to Dhaka.
The BNP chief came up with the allegation in an interview with The Sunday Guardian published yesterday.
She also claimed that she had to call off her meeting with Indian President Pranab Mukherjee in 2013 because she faced a life threat.
The former prime minister made it clear that she was never anti-India or anti-Hindu, rather, there is a concerted propaganda by the ruling government to try and paint me as anti-India and anti-Hindu.
In the interview Khaleda defends her partys decision not to take part in the January 5 general elections.
She also alleged that the minorities were being tortured during the AL regime.
Excerpts;
Q: Begum Zia, how was your meeting with Prime Minister Narendra Modi?
A: It was a very satisfactory meeting. It was wonderful meeting Modiji. I must say that the meeting was held in a very cordial manner. I was very satisfied.
Q: What are the key issues that you discussed?
A: As I said, the meeting was extremely cordial and was a good one. It was a one-on-one meeting, you see. I cannot really spell out what all we talked about, but it was definitely a very satisfactory meeting.
Q: Till the last moment, everyone seemed to be sceptical as to whether the meeting would actually happen. When finally you arrived at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel, did the confusion end? What led to this confusion?
A: What was the confusion all about? Did I for once say that that I wouldnt meet Modiji? I had personally congratulated him on his electoral victory. Did you hear a single leader from our Bangladesh Nationalist Party say that I wouldnt meet Modiji? Modiji is the leader of the worlds largest democracy. He is here in Bangladesh with an aim to strengthen ties between two countries. The confusion was deliberately created to send out wrong signals and they tried their level best and virtually left no stones unturned to ensure that my meeting with Modiji didnt happen.
Q: Madam, are you then alleging that there was a concerted conspiracy to keep you out of PM Modis itinerary in Bangladesh? Who was behind this?
A: Let me state the facts straight. Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali publicly ruled out any possibility of my meeting PM Narendra Modi during his stay in Bangladesh. But then New Delhi put out the facts straight. On the eve of the Prime Ministers visit and just hours after the statement from Bangladesh, Indian Foreign Secretary S. Jaishankar said in New Delhi that it was very much on and would happen. How can you justify this? I am thankful to the Indian authorities as this government in Bangladesh tried whatever they could to see to it that the meeting did not happen. They did not want me to have any discussion with Modiji.
Q: Let me then ask you a straight question then. As you are indicating, possibly a ploy was hatched by the ruling government to ensure that your meeting with PM Modi never happened. But then if we rewind to the time when President Pranab Mukherjee was in Bangladesh in March 2013, you chose not to meet him...
A: I am glad you asked me this question. Yes it is a fact that I could not meet President Pranab Mukherjee during his state visit to Bangladesh. Jamaat-e-Islami had called a general strike then to protest the conviction of its three top leaders for the 1971 war crimes. I had to call off my meeting with the President then as we received inputs that had I gone there to meet him, I would have been attacked. In fact there could have been a life threat. And if you recall, at that very spot near his hotel which I was supposed to cross, there was a petrol bomb explosion.
