Dhaka: Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on Wednesday sharply criticised BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and its top leaders for stepping on the main altar of the Central Shaheed Minar on February 21 for paying tributes to the Language Movement heroes.

"They (BNP chief and its leaders) have destroyed Amar Ekushey’s dignity through stepping on the altar…," she said. 

The Prime Minister was addressing a discussion organised by Awami League at Krishibid Institution, Bangladesh (KIB) marking the Amar Ekushey and the International Mother Language Day.

Sheikh Hasina said through this ‘nonsense’ act, Khaleda Zia and other BNP leaders proved that they have no honour for the language. "Otherwise, they couldn’t step on the altar which the whole nation regards as a sacred place," she said.

Mentioning that the President and the Prime Minister as well as people from all walks of life place wreaths on the altar standing beneath it as a mark of utmost respects to the language martyrs, she questioned: “But where did she (Khaleda) place her wreath? Did she place the wreath on her own feet?"

Noting that the BNP chief might have not been in the senses at the midnight, the Prime Minister said the other BNP leaders did the same. "Were they all out of senses?" she questioned.

Talking about the anti-Bangladesh attitude of Khaleda Zia, Hasina, also the Awami League president, said the BNP chief expressed her doubt about the martyrdom of 30 lakh people during the Liberation War. "We can understand the claim of Pakistanis. But how a person who is an established leader and who was the Prime Minister twice, can match with the tempo of Pakistanis. This manifests how much love she bears for Pakistanis."

About the international conspiracy against Bangladesh regarding the Padma Bridge, she said the allegations were raised against her, her family members, her party and even against the cabinet members and secretaries to defame them. "But I faced the challenge as I was empowered with the strength of honesty. Let me clearly say one thing. What tarnishes the dignity of the country’s people will never be done by me and my family."

The AL chief asked her party leaders and activists to strengthen the organisation imbued with the power of honesty.

The Prime Minister also elaborated the chronological history of the Bangalees' struggles, led by then student leader Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, from 1947 to 1952 for establishing the rights of mother tongue Bangla.

Pointing out the background of earning Unesco’s recognition of Amar Ekusheay as the International Mother Language Day, she said the Foreign Ministry and Bangladesh ambassadors abroad had been given directives to take proper steps to this end.

Besides, she herself had written letters to the heads of state and government across the world informing them about the history of the Shaheed Day and sacrifices of the Bangalees for their mother tongue in 1952, Hasina said, adding that such a prompt action had made it possible to get the recognition in 1999.

She also said now responsibility lies upon the Bangalees to do research and preserve the rights of mother languages around the world.

For this purpose, she said, the International Mother Language Institute has been established in Dhaka to carry out necessary research activities and other works for preserving languages alongside retrieving the languages that have been already lost.

The Prime Minister renewed her call for practising mother tongue Bangla in an appropriate accent and pronunciation, urging all, particularly the young generation, not to distort Bangla by pronouncing it in foreign language style like English.

At the outset of the discussion, a one-minute silence was observed as a mark of profound respect to the memories of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, four national leaders, and the martyrs of the War of Liberation and the Language Movement.

AL senior leaders Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury, Amir Hossain Amu, Tofail Ahmed, Matia Chowdhury and Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim, Prof Dr Anwar Hossain of Dhaka University, former Principal of Begum Badrunnesa Government Women’s College Prof Marina Jahan and cultural personality Ramendu Majumdar also spoke while eminent poet Nirmalendu Goon recited self-composed poems at the function.