Prime Minister’s Political Adviser Advocate Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Wednesday described former prime minister Sheikh Hasina as “the most despicable and hateful fascist in history,” adding that her rule was marked by repression, corruption and widespread killings.

He made the remarks after visiting a photo exhibition on the July mass uprising and the BNP’s movement over the past 17 years at Gulshan in the capital.

Rizvi said fascists and Nazis around the world had clung to power through brutality, but claimed there were key differences between them and Sheikh Hasina.

“Hasina was also an extremely bloodthirsty fascist. Fascists like Hitler and Mussolini carried out ethnic cleansing and killed millions of people. But they also tried to make their own nations the strongest in the world. They wanted to establish their countries as the most powerful,” he said.

The BNP Senior Joint Secretary General alleged that unlike Hitler or Mussolini, Sheikh Hasina siphoned money abroad, looted banks, plundered the stock market and occupied government land.

“That is the difference between Hitler, Mussolini and Sheikh Hasina. They were dreadful killers and fascists, but they had love for their own countries. Sheikh Hasina, on the other hand, had no love for Bangladesh. Her main agenda was to plunder the nation and establish her relatives abroad. She never deviated from that agenda. That is why she was the most despicable and hateful fascist in history,” Rizvi said.

The BNP leader alleged that fascism often emerged through covert political processes and claimed Bangladesh had experienced the rise of what he termed “Awami fascism.”

According to him, those in power had repeatedly used deception and populist promises to gain office before resorting to violence to make their rule permanent.

He said Sheikh Hasina failed to recognise that public sentiment, which, according to him, emboldened her to hold “staged and dummy elections” in an attempt to remain in power.

He also claimed that, apart from a few countries, the international community did not support her government, yet it continued in office by force.

Referring to reports that Sheikh Hasina would address an event organised by the South Asian Journalists in New Delhi, Rizvi criticised the Indian government for allegedly allowing her to deliver a message despite what he described as her status as a fugitive convicted of crimes.

“She may not be delivering a video message, but she is being allowed to send an audio message. This reflects the Indian government's double standard,” he said.

Rizvi alleged that India continued to support Sheikh Hasina because of what he called her pro-India stance.

“It appears that if a fugitive or convicted criminal from another country is ‘India-friendly,’ then all of his or her crimes are forgiven,” he said, expressing strong condemnation and protest over what he described as India's conduct.

The BNP leader also said people from different professions who had fought for democracy, freedom of expression, press freedom and an independent judiciary would not hesitate to join such movements again to realise those democratic aspirations.