DHAKA, Jan 12 � Sheikh Hasina was today sworn in for her second straight term as Bangladesh's prime minister, a week after her Awami League party secured a landslide win in the violence-hit general election boycotted by the opposition, reports PTI.
President Abdul Hamid administered oath of office to the 49-member council of ministers at Bangabhaban � the presidential house � here in a ceremony that was beamed live.
A total of 29 lawmakers took oath as cabinet ministers. Seventeen MPs were appointed as state ministers while two as deputy ministers.
Attired in an off-white sari, 66-year-old Hasina looked confident at the jam-packed Darbar Hall of Bangabhaban. She took oath pledging to preserve, protect and defend the national constitution and state sovereignty. This is the third term for Hasina as Prime Minister. She had also served as Prime Minister during 1996-2001.
Awami League won over two-thirds of Parliament�s 300 seats in the January 5 polls which were described as a farce by the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)-led 18-party opposition alliance. The opposition boycotted the polls demanding a neutral caretaker regime to oversee the polls.
The opposition led by former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia tried to derail the polls by calling strikes and blockades. Over 160 people were killed in poll-related violence since November.
Meanwhile, despite the government�s warning of stern action, violence against the minority community continued in the country even as a Hindu man was stabbed to death and a temple was damaged in two separate attacks.
Haripad Mondol, a 50-year-old well-off farmer, died after he was stabbed by a masked assailant in his home in northern Natore district today. His wife Bishaka Rani, 45, and some relatives were injured in the attack, police were quoted as saying by Bdnews24.
In Nolchiti area of southwestern Jhalokathi district, a temple was damaged when unidentified persons tried to burn down the homes of two Hindu families late yesterday. Police official AFM Anwar Hossain told Bdnews24 that local residents and the two households doused the flames.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has blamed her arch-rival, BNP chief Khaleda Zia, for the attacks on minorities. The government last week said it would set up special tribunals under an anti-terror law to punish those responsible for the violence.
