Accusing the government of plundering public money in the name of development, BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia on Sunday said the ruling Awami League siphoned off Tk 30,000 crore over the last seven years. “The ruling party often talks about development…they’ve plundered more public money than what they spent on development. Now they’re taking mega projects in the name of development and looting huge money. Awami League has plundered Tk 30,000 crore over the last seven years,” she said. The BNP chief came up with the allegation while addressing a workers’ rally at Suhrawardy Udyan in the city. BNP's workers' front Jatiyatabadi Sramik Dal arranged the programme, marking the May Day. Khaleda said journalist Shafik Rehman was arrested and put on remand as he collected some information about Prime Minister’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy’s involvement in siphoning off Tk 2,500 crore. “As a journalist, he gathered the information. But, he (Shafik) neither disclosed that nor written anything with that. You couldn’t have known about Tk 2,500 crore had he been not arrested.” The BNP chief alleged that the government arrested Shafik Rehman on a ‘false charge’ of his involvement in move to abduct and kill Joy. “Now they’re implicating Amar Desh editor Mahmudur Rahman in it.” She said Joy had brought the same allegation in a US court, but it turned down the accusation as the court found it ‘fake’. Khaleda demanded the government either release Shafik Rehman and Mahmudur Rahman or arrest Joy and grill him over the laundered Tk 2,500 crore. Referring to a Prime Minister’s remark that BNP has chosen the path of secret killings having failed to return to power, the BNP chairperson said, “Where’s the scope for returning to power as there has been no such election. We don’t want to go to power through the backdoor without polls.” She urged the Prime Minister to hand over her power to a neutral government for arranging a national election. “Then, it’ll be proved whether BNP has its existence or not.” About the incidents of secret killing of bloggers, writers, publishers, and people of different faiths, Khaleda said these incidents are being carried out with the government’s patronage. “Murder incidents are taking place regularly, but no one is punished and arrested in connection with the incidents as the killers belong to Awami League.” The BNP chief alleged that the army-backed last caretaker government had tried to destroy the Zia family as she and her sons refused to go abroad as per their dictates. Narrating how her mother died a week after she was refused to meet her at prison during the military-backed caretaker government, Khaleda got emotional saying, “Now I’ don’t have my parents, brother, sister, and son. You (people) are my all and I count on you. You’re my brothers, sisters and sons.” She called upon people to strengthen her hands by providing her with their all-out supports to protest against unfairness, injustice, killings and enforced disappearances, plundering of public money and restore democracy. Fearing that she may get arrested, Khaleda said: “I want to say they (govt) may put be behind bars, but there’s no problem as you will remain beside me as my brothers, sisters and friends.” In an oblique reference to the Prime Minister’s May Day programme at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre, Khaleda said, “As BNP is people’s party, it’s now on the streets through a workers’ rally. The others who have no connection with people and they fear them are holding the May Day programme sitting in a glassed house.” Recalling the background of the May Day, she said the history of the day is the history of realising rights sacrificing blood. “I call upon all to be vocal about their rights taking the lessons from the day.” BNP standing committee members Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, Moudud Ahmed, Jamiruddin Sircar, Abdul Moyeen Khan, Mirza Abbas and Nazrul Islam Khan, among others, spoke at the rally held with Sramik Dal president Anwar Hossain in the chair.