Hasina alleges she was 'slow poisoned' in jail

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has alleged that there were attempts on her life by mixing poison with her food when she was under detention in a sub-jail during the state of emergency.

The "slow poisoning" caused a serious problem to my eyes, Hasina told the Bangladesh parliament on Thursday.

"I was held in a dirty house and given shabby mattress and bed. But Bangladesh Nationalist Party chief Khaleda Zia was kept in the speaker's residence. Khaleda was allowed to keep a domestic help and her food was brought from outside and clothes washed at laundry," she said.

The prime minister was making the concluding speech on the thanksgiving motion on the president's address.

Hasina's archrival leader of the opposition Khaleda Zia did not take part in the discussion on the thanksgiving motion. However, the BNP-led opposition lawmakers were present in the House when the premier delivered her speech.

She accused the BNP-Jamaat alliance of hatching a conspiracy to increase prices of essentials "using the money they looted while in power".

The prime minister claimed the BNP-Jamaat alliance had decided not to allow the government run the country smoothly.

"The BNP-Jamaat alliance is spending their looted money to increase the prices of essentials. Thousands of crore of taka are now in their hands and it does not matter to them if they spend Tk 1,000 crore for this purpose," she said.

"They are not concerned with people's sufferings due to price hike of essentials. Their only aim is to undermine the Awami League government," Hasina said.

On the power situation, the premier acknowledged people's unbearable sufferings caused by acute shortage of power and gas.

"I can feel the sufferings of people. But what can we do? They (the BNP-led government) did not add a single megawatt of power even though they spent thousands of crore of taka. Electric poles are everywhere without electricity," she said.

Speaking about the crackdown on politicians during the caretaker government rule, Hasina said Khaleda Zia was ready to leave the country in consultation with the caretaker government.

She claimed she has a document that says Khaleda Zia managed foreign currency worth Tk 1 crore for leaving the country. "I strongly protested the caretaker government's move to send her abroad forcefully," she said.

She also described her government's efforts in various sectors.