Khaleda Zia says detention changed her thought process

Dhaka, Sept 26 (PTI) Former Bangladesh Premier Khaleda
Zia has termed her over year-long detention on graft charges
as "very painful" and said the period changed her thought
process, which would be reflected in her future activities and
planning.

"Each serious event in a person's life brings a new
dimension to the thought process. My thought process has also
changed whilst I was in sub-jail... This change will be
reflected in my future plan and deed," Zia told the New Age
newspaper, in her first interview since her release on bail on
September 11 this year.

Replying to a query, leader of the Bangladesh Nationalist
Party (B.N.P.) said her "solitary confinement" at the
makeshift sub-jail at the Dhaka's parliament complex was "very
painful", and she is now trying to recover from its effects.

Zia was arrested on September 3 last year, months after
her archrival Sheikh Hasina of Awami League was detained under
a massive anti-graft campaign launched by the current interim
government, installed with crucial military support following
the January 11, 2007 proclamation of emergency.

Hasina was freed on a government executive order on June
16 to be treated abroad for critical hearing impairment after
14 months of detention at the same complex.

Both Zia and Hasina were also widely criticised for
exercising absolute power in the party, a practice which
resulted in a reform campaign within their parties by "rebel
leaders".

Asked if she thought it was time to decentralise the
enormous power of the B.N.P. chairperson, Zia briefly said
that she was "personally in favour of more democratisation and
decentralisation".

"I should point out that constructive criticisms within
the party should always be practised to develop a truly
democratic culture. On the other hand, loyalty and
faithfulness are two essential ingredients necessary for the
survival of a political party," she said in oblique reference
to leaders who spearheaded the reform campaign while she was
in jail.

Asked to comment on the alleged corrupt practices by her
close associates when in power, she accepted that the chief
executive of the government bears the responsibility when a
party leader or a government minister indulges in corruption.

"We must also understand the government is the biggest
administrative machinery of the country. The chief executive
of the government has to trust and delegate responsibility to
various members of the government," Zia said.

She, however, said that if the corruption trials were
conducted without outside interference and if any of her party
colleagues is found guilty in the highest court of law, then
he or she will be ousted from the party.

"If a person is tried in an interference-free normal
court of law and if he is sentenced in the highest court of
law, then he will be out of the party," she said.

The anti-graft campaign of the interim administration
also saw the detention of Zia's two sons, Tarique Rahman and
Arafat Rahman Koko, both of whom are being treated abroad
after being granted bail by courts.

Asked about the much talked about "minus-two theory"
implying banishment of Hasina and herself from politics, Zia
said, it might have been the move of "certain vested interest
groups".

"I suppose certain vested interest groups, who do not
believe in the people's right to choose their leaders, were
behind such an idea," Zia said.