Hasan Mahmud
BNP wants rally at Nayapaltan with aim to anarchy: Hasan Mahmud
BNP wants to hold its Dhaka divisional rally at Nayapaltan instead of any other venue or ground in the city as its aim is to create anarchy, said Information Minister Hasan Mahmud on Tuesday.
“Their (BNP) intention is not good,” he told the reporters after an anti-tobacco advocacy meeting organised by Unnayan Samannoy in the city.
He said the purpose of holding the rally in Nayapaltan is to vandalise vehicles and create anarchy, leading to public suffering.
Read more: BNP should apologize before using Padma Bridge: Hasan Mahmud
The government doesn't want to obstruct any rally, he said. “If the government had wanted, they (BNP) couldn’t have held any of these (previous seven) rallies.”
In fact, it was BNP who obstructed Awami League’s rally by carrying out grenade and bomb attacks, in the process killing many people, said Mahmud.
“We are providing them all the support from the government so that they can hold rally peacefully. And they are holding rallies peacefully,” the minister added.
Regarding the militant issue, Mahmud said BNP is the chief patron and financer of militancy in the country.
“Begum Khaleda Zia had opposed the arrest of militants as there are militant groups in their alliance,” he added.
Read more: Hasan Mahmud to BNP: Don't play with people's lives
“The very recent rise of militancy and Mirza Fakhrrul Islam Alamgir’s statement is interlinked. They want to create instability in the country,” the information minister said.
No govt decision to stop supply of daytime electricity: Hasan Mahmud
Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud on Monday said the government has taken no decision to halt supply of power during daytime and Prime Minister’s Energy Advisor Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury’s statement in this regard is his personal.
The minister said this while replying to a question from journalists during a meeting at the Secretariat.
The PM’s advisor can explain his suggestion to stop using electricity during daytime to save power but it’s not from the government, he added.
About BNP’s Khulna rally Hasan said bus-launch owners have called the strike on their own and government or the ruling party had no influence over it.
BNP activists have vandalized newly established Khulna Railway station and attacked Doulatpur Awami League office during the rally, alleged the AL joint general secretary.
Read: CCTV cameras in secret polling booths violate privacy: Hasan Mahmud
“Bus-launch owners and workers were worried as from 2013 to 2015, BNP made arson attacks on buses, launches and burnt workers and passengers to death. That’s why they embarked on strikes,” he added.
Reagarding Fakhrul’s statement in the rally Hasan said, before the election in 2008 BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia said AL won’t get even 30 seats but unfortunately it was them who got only 29 seats.
“I fear Fakhrul’s statement of 10 seats will become true for themselves as it did for Begum Zia’s 30 seat one,” he said.
Regarding BNP’s remark about AL being threatened by their rally he said, “We were rather tickled by seeing the size of their rally.”
BNP usually holds rally with two thousand people so they actually got overwhelmed seeing 10 to 15 thousand people and went overboard with their speeches.
Govt may resend Khaleda Zia to jail unless BNP stops daydreaming: Info Minister
Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud has said that the government may have to send BNP leader Khaleda Zia back to jail unless her party leaders stop dreaming about grabbing power.
The minister said this during a views-exchange meeting with journalists at his ministry’s meeting room on Monday noon.
“I think Amanullah Aman has seen a dream that Khaleda Zia will rule the country from December 10. The reality is that Khaleda is currently outside jail because of the benevolence of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina,” said Hasan.
Replying to a question, the minister said that although he himself doesn’t agree with noted human rights activist Sultana Kamal’s views, attacking her verbally was a violation of basic human courtesy.
“We may criticize what people like Kamal say, but no one can attack them personally. The way Ruhul Kabir Rizvi has tagged Kamal as a collaborator of Awami League (AL), I wonder, someday he may do the same with his leader Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir,” Hasan said.
Read: Diplomats are welcome to advise on polls, but no meddling with internal matters: Info Minister
Asked about Mirza Fakhrul’s recent statement that people were better off under Pakistan, Hasan, also the Joint General Secretary of the ruling AL, said that the BNP leader has insulted the Liberation War and its martyrs through his comment.
“By reminiscing about the Pakistan period, Fakhrul has meant that the formation of an independent Bangladesh was a mistake. What he has forgotten is that without the country’s liberation, his archangel Ziaur Rahman would never have become a Major General,” Hasan added.
Fakhrul must be declared ‘unfit’ to do politics in this country as its existence is so bitter to him, Hasan further said.
Hasan Mahmud zeroes in on Fakhrul's Pakistan reference
Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud has said that Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir’s reference to the Pakistan era during his speech on Friday proves that BNP loves Pakistan from the heart.
Hasan said this while talking to journalists at the Chattogram Circuit House on Friday.
Hasan, also the Joint General Secretary of the ruling Awami League (AL), added that even Pakistan’s current and former leaders praise the statesmanship of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Read: Hasan Mahmud to BNP: Don't play with people's lives
“We’ve surpassed Pakistan in all indicators, including economic, social, human development and health, in 2015. Our current per capita income is even more than India. While Pakistan laments the development of Bangladesh, such a statement from Fakhrul is really disappointing,” said Hasan.
Transit a big achievement of PM’s India visit: Info Minister
Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud has said that no matter what BNP says, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s recent India visit has been successful as Bangladesh has finally received long-cherished transit facility during her visit.
“Under the facility, Bangladesh will be able to export goods, including RMG products, to third countries using Indian territory without any cost. I sincerely thank the PM for getting a lot of facilities for Bangladesh during her India visit,” said Hasan.
The minister said this while speaking as the chief guest at a check distribution program organized by Chattogram Union of Journalists (CUJ) at the S Rahman Hall of Chattogram Press Club on Friday.
He added that the relations between Bangladesh and India are based on equality.
Read: No bar to implementing wage board once case is disposed: Hasan Mahmud
“It’s the AL government which has achieved everything from India. In 1974, we signed the enclave exchange agreement with India under the leadership of Father of The Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. It was again the AL government headed by PM Hasina under which the enclaves were finally exchanged. Besides, Bangladesh also settled the maritime boundary issue with India under the AL government. These developments prove that Bangladesh views India as its equal,” added Hasan.
Hasan, also the Joint General Secretary of the ruling AL, also said that the Bangladesh-India ties have reached a new milestone due to the wholehearted efforts by PM Hasina and her Indian counterpart Narendra Modi.
“India has provided duty-free excess to almost all of our products except only 20 items including drugs. They’ve also given us the opportunity to transport goods to other countries using their territory without any taxes or tarrifs. India has also agreed to share the water of Kushiyara river with us, which the BNP had failed to achieve during their tenure. All of these show the excellent relations that Bangladesh is enjoying with India right now,” Hasan said.
The program was presided over by CUJ President Mohammad Ali and moderated by Joint Secretary Sobur Shuvo. Suvash Chandra Badal, Managing Director of Bangladesh Journalists’ Welfare Trust and Ali Abbas, President of Chattogram Press Club, among others, spoke at the event as special guests.
No bar to implementing wage board once case is disposed: Hasan Mahmud
Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Wednesday said there will be no barrier to implementing the wage board for journalists once a case related to the wage board is disposed.
“I think the barrier in implementing the wage board will be removed if the case related to the wage board is vacated,” Hasan said.
The minister said this at a discussion organized by Dhaka Union of Journalists at the National Press Club in the capital.
Regarding the amendment to the Press Council Act, Hasan Mahmud, also joint secretary of the ruling Awami League, said members of the Press Council are journalists and the proposal for the amendment of the Council Act is placed by the Press Council.
In the amendment, the Press Council will be empowered to impose fine upto highest Tk 5 lakh to the journalists who will violate rules and regulations, he said.
He further said the amendment increases the power of the Press Council to impose fines, though press councils of England and India have power to fine more than Tk 5 lakh.
Read: Media should not publish unverified news: Hasan Mahmud
The minister said that the concerned ministry didn’t file the case. The newspaper owners, journalists and representatives of journalist organizations will have to take care of it, he added.
Bangladesh Federal Union of Journalists (BFUJ) President Omar Faruque, Journalists Welfare Trust Managing Director Subhash Chanda Badal, JPC President Farida Yesmin, BFUJ former President Manjurul Ahsan Bulbul and former Secretary General Abdul Jalil Bhuiyan, among others, addressed the discussion.
Strict action if commodity prices are raised unnecessarily: Hasan Mahmud
Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Wednesday warned that the government will take stern action if the prices of essential goods or transport fares are raised unnecessarily on the plea of hike in fuel prices.
Taking the recent fuel price-hike as an advantage, some unscrupulous businessmen have increased the price of goods and also the transport cost to enhance their profits, he said while exchanging views with journalists at the Bangladesh Secretariat here.
Read: AL won't let BNP set the stage for another August 15: Hasan
“It (irrational price hike) is in no way acceptable. Our government is monitoring these and I hope business organizations and leaders will play a role in this regard. If needed, the government will take strict action against them,” said Dr Hasan, also a joint general secretary of Awami League.
Replying to a question about the Hartal (strike) called by the left-leaning alliance to protest the price-hike of daily commodities, the minister said there is high inflation throughout the world.
He said the inflation is 8.5 per cent in the USA, 9.4 per cent in the UK, 25 per cent in Pakistan and over 9 percent in Australia. But the inflation is 7.5 per cent in Bangladesh and was below 7 per cent till May last, which is lower than many countries, he added.
The AL joint general secretary said the left-leaning alliance is a pro-liberation force and this is why he respects them, said a PID handout.
The Information Minister requested them so that anti-liberation forces including BNP, anti-state force and militant groups would not be benefited with their activities.
AL won't let BNP set the stage for another August 15: Hasan
Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud Friday said BNP is trying to set the stage for another "August 15," when Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and most of his family members were assassinated in 1975.
"Also, they want to brand Bangladesh as a terrorist country in the world. But the Bangladesh Awami League (AL) will never let these things happen," he added.
Read: Hasan Mahmud dismisses Ganatantra Mancha as out-of-touch, insignificant
Hasan, also AL joint general secretary, was addressing a meeting in Mohanpur upazila of Rajshahi.
Thursday, at a meeting in Rajshahi city, the AL leader said the ruling party will take control of the streets in September and keep it occupied until the national polls.
"At a public rally in Dhaka's Nayapaltan, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir today (Thursday) said they will have to take control of the streets," the minister said.
"In reply, I would tell my party leaders and activists: August is a month of mourning, which we are observing through different programmes. When the mourning ends, we will occupy the streets in September," he added.
AL to occupy streets in September as August mourning ends: Hasan
Information and Broadcasting Minister Hasan Mahmud has said the ruling party Awami League (AL) will take control of the streets in September and keep it occupied until the national polls.
Hasan, also AL joint general secretary, was addressing a meeting in Rajshahi city Thursday night. Rajshahi Metropolitan AL leaders and activists were present.
"At a public rally in Dhaka's Nayapaltan, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir today (Thursday) said they will have to take control of the streets," the minister said.
"In reply, I would tell my party leaders and activists: August is a month of mourning, which we are observing through different programmes. When the mourning ends, we will occupy the streets in September."
Also read: All-party effort required to sustain democratic system: Hasan
Hasan Mahmud dismisses Ganatantra Mancha as out-of-touch, insignificant
The newly formed 'Ganatantra Mancha', a new political alliance of seven isolated parties has no importance in the political field or in polls, said Information Minister Hasan Mahmud on Tuesday.
Each member of the alliance is detached from the people and abandoned in politics, he said while replying to the reporter over the alliance of seven parties at his official residence in the capital.
"Since they themselves are insignificant, they are only trying to increase their importance significance by forming an alliance, nothing else," he added.
Read:BNP sees Ganatantra Mancha in line with its call for united opposition
Earlier in the morning, the minister visited the family of Taslima Begum Renu, who was lynched over a toxic rumour of child trafficking ring somehow related to Padma Bridge, outside a school in Mohakhali, where she had gone to seek her own child's admission.
Hasan handed over financial assistance on behalf of Awami League.
Hasan said victim Renu went to a school to talk about her child's admission, but she was brutally killed in a mob beating in 2019 following BNP-Jamaat's rumour that blood and human sacrifice would be needed for Padma Bridge construction.
”This is not acceptable by any means," he said, adding that many persons were killed because of the rumour.
He assured the victim's family of providing support to the trial of the murder case.
Hasan also said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina gave a directive to stand by such victims.