Zia cut down thousands trees to cling to power: Hasan

GBNEWS24 DESK//

Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Tuesday said Ziaur Rahman not only killed hundreds officials and soldiers of armed forces, he also cut down thousands of trees of Dhaka to cling to the power.

“Ziaur Rahman introduced a strange system when he was in power. He established a reign of ‘curfew’. The people whose age is above 50, they can remember that during the Ziaur Rahman regime there was night-time curfew at Dhaka and Chattogram cities year after year,” he said.

Hasan, also Awami League joint general secretary, added: “Ziaur Rahman cut down roadside trees of Dhaka city. One person told Zia that anyone can kill you from behind tree. For this reason, he (Zia) cut down trees to cling to the power.”

The minister stated these while inaugurating four-month long tree plantation programme of Awami League Forests and Environment Sub-Committee at Suhrawardy Udyan in the capital.

AL Forests and Environment Affairs secretary Delwar Hossain conducted the function with the sub-committee advisor Dr Khandakar Bazlul Haque in the chair.

Hasan said BNP and Jamaat also cut down most of the trees of Dhaka city during the movement of Hefazat. But, the people who are working on environment and nature issues remained silent which is unexpected, he added.

The minister said the forests land was 8 percent when BNP-Jamaat was in power. Presently, the tree-covered land areas have been increased during the last 12 and a half years under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and the forests land has been increased to 12 percent, he added.