DHAKA, Aug 05, (V7N) - BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Advocate Ruhul Kabir Rizvi today called ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina "the worst and most despicable fascist in history," describing her government as highly authoritarian, corrupt and repressive.

Speaking to reporters after visiting a photo exhibition on the July Mass Uprising and political movements of the past 17 years in Gulshan, he said there is a fundamental difference between Hasina and other fascist rulers in history who held power through force.

"Fascists like Hitler and Mussolini killed millions through ethnic cleansing and racial persecution, but they tried to make their own nations the greatest and most powerful in the world," he said.

"Unlike Hitler or Mussolini, Sheikh Hasina was involved in money laundering, bank looting, stock market plundering and illegal grabbing of government land," Rizvi said.

He said while Hitler and Mussolini were "terrible killers and fascists," they, in his view, still had love for their own countries, whereas Hasina's main objective, he alleged, was to loot the country to establish her relatives abroad. "For this reason, I consider her the most despicable fascist in history," he added.

Rizvi alleged that the Awami League government was involved in bank fraud, stock market irregularities and misappropriation of state property, and that it used force and electoral manipulation to stay in power.

He claimed that people from different professions — including students, journalists, restaurant workers and shop employees — were killed during political movements from 2009 to August 5, 2024.

Terming the July Mass Uprising "a massive awakening" and "a nuclear explosion of people's inherent strength" against oppression, he said Sheikh Hasina failed to understand people's power and tried to remain in office through what he described as farcical elections.

He also claimed that almost no country in the world supported her government and that it stayed in power by force.

Rizvi said people from all walks of life fought for democratic values, including democracy, freedom of expression, press freedom and an independent judiciary, and would not hesitate to join such struggles again if needed.

END/AJ/RH