Dr. Oli Ahmed, Bir Bikram, a retired colonel and chairman of the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), has hit out at India in a speech in Rangpur, saying: “Your servants are in Delhi; there is no rule of your servants in Bangladesh now.”
He was speaking on Saturday at an 11-party alliance divisional rally at the Zilla School ground in Rangpur, held to demand the implementation of the referendum’s popular verdict and of the Teesta master plan, an end to push-ins at the border, and relief from public hardship.
Addressing the people of Rangpur, Oli said: “Your son Abu Sayeed gave his life freely and gave direction to all of Bangladesh. The message he gave us is that, if needed, we must give our lives for the country. Do not be subservient to anyone.”
He said: “A few days ago the Indian high commissioner came to Bangladesh through Benapole. He recited a nice poem – same sky, same air. If you feel so much affection for us, why did you put up barbed wire all around? If you have so much love for us, why are you pushing people in every day? Why are we not getting water at Farakka, or in the Teesta? Why is no water coming from the rivers we share?”
“When we buy aircraft, your stomach starts to hurt,” Oli said. “When you buy planes and big ships, we say nothing. We will buy tanks and artillery for the country’s needs – that is our own decision.” He added: “We are not your servants. Your maidservant has already gone to you; she is not here now. If you want good relations with us, take down the barbed-wire fence, stop the push-ins, and never again say that you will capture Rangpur.”
“If you say you will capture Rangpur, we will say we will capture Kolkata,” he said. “The old days are over; a new era has begun. There is no rule of your maidservant in Bangladesh now, and these servants will never be able to rule Bangladesh again.”
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report