Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said that elements trying to destabilise Bangladesh were involved in the murder of an Italian national in Dhaka and termed the killing as 'very unfortunate'."There is certainly a strong force behind the killing, so they certainly want to create an unstable situation in Bangladesh but the people believe in peace, not terrorism," she told a news conference at Bangladesh's UN Permanent Mission in New York on Tuesday evening. "It is a ploy to destabilise Bangladesh and we will resist all such evil moves," the PM asserted.
Stating that terrorism and militancy are not only happening in Bangladesh but it's a global phenomenon, the Prime Minister said, "Bangladesh believes in peace and certainly not in militancy. We are really very sad for the murder of a foreign national and it's very unfortunate."
Sheikh Hasina, also President of ruling Awami League, said, "There is a political party in Bangladesh which burns people to death. There are certain people in Bangladesh who want to create an abnormal situation by murders. These are the handiworks of those quarters."
She came down heavily on the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) for one of its leader's comments after the Italian aid worker's murder. "I saw suspicious activities of a BNP leader after the murder. I think the clue of the murder would be revealed if the BNP leader is interrogated. I'll take the measure after returning home," she said.
Senior BNP leader Abdul Moyeen Khan said on Tuesday that the government had fallen into its own trap by raising the bogey of extremists.
Expressing surprise as some diplomatic missions in Dhaka issued 'alert' to limit movements of their citizens in Bangladesh after Italian Tavella Ceaser's murder, Sheikh Hasina said, "There is no justification of an alert.""It was a stray incident and some isolated incidents always happen not only in Bangladesh but everywhere in the world. I did not see any reason for issuing the alert to foreign nationals in Dhaka," she added.
"The US government did not announce any alert when two Bangladesh nationals were killed in New York few years ago. Other diplomatic missions also didn't issue any such alert to their citizens," the Prime Minister went on saying.
About the link of militant outfit Islamic State (IS) claiming responsibility of Tavella's murder, Sheikh Hasina said, "As far as we know, a message from Chicago claimed that IS had done it. But anybody from Bangladesh didn't claim it so far. Our intelligence has no information like that."
Regarding Australia national cricket teams not touring Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina said they were still not clear about the reasons. Both sides are discussing the matter, she added.
"In the past, we have witnessed similar situation. Pakistan and India team played in Bangladesh. Even world cup cricket was hosted here. It's absolutely a matter of Australia why they suddenly decided not to visit Bangladesh," she said.
Bangladesh hosted a number of sports events in the past with complete security and no untoward incident did happen, the PM pointed out.
"Untoward incidents have taken place in many countries, but not in Bangladesh. Our law and order enforcement agencies and all concerned have enough expertise to ensure security of the players and our people are also very much conscious about this," she said.
Responding to a query, Sheikh Hasina ruled out any chance of early election before 2019.
The next election would be held as per the schedule and according to the constitution. None should be worried about it, she said.
Terming her visit to New York as a successful one, the PM said the UNGA has adopted the crucial Post-2015 agenda, a very 'pro people' goal for sustainable development of the nations, particularly the poor ones.
Besides, she held very successful bilateral meeting with India, Japan, Netherlands and China.
In reply to a question, the PM said court will decide whether Begum Zia and her son Tarique would be punished or not in the corruption and grenade attack cases. However, she said, she is always in favour of punishment of the perpetrators.
Among others, Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam, members of PM's entourage, Permanent Representative of Bangladesh to the UN Dr Abdul Momen were present.