politics
Govt has no plan to rehabilitate flood victims: BNP
BNP senior leader Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain on Tuesday alleged that the government has no plan to help and rehabilitate the flood victims in the country’s northeast region.
“We express our sorrow to the flood victims. You have seen in the newspapers how people are living in inhumane conditions in flood-hit areas. We’re observing that the government has no plan to deal with catastrophic floods and to… rehabilitate the victims,” he said.
Speaking at a round-table discussion, the BNP leader also said the government did not come forward to stand beside the flood-affected people.
“It’s unfortunate that they (govt) were busy with other things. If the government is not elected by people’s vote and if there is no government of people, then public suffering and grief won’t get priority over the interests of individuals and groups,” he observed.
The South Asian Youth Research Center arranged the programme titled “The Issue of Water Sharing between Bangladesh and India” at the Jatiya Press Club.
Mosharraf, a BNP standing committee member, said the government has so far not calculated the extent of damage caused by the severe floods in the country.
READ: HC directs not to bar BNP leader Alal from going abroad
Referring to the recent Joint Consultative Commission (JCC) meeting with India participated by Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen, he said it was nothing but an eye wash.
He said the minister only gave a lip service at the meeting without any report from the Joint River Commission.
The BNP leader said when many areas of Bangladesh were being inundated in flood waters India opened all the gates of the Farakka barrage.
“We’re submerged with water from the upstream when we don't need water. When we need water for saving our lives and livelihoods, then upstream water is being diverted to other areas (of India), turning Bangladesh into a desert,” he observed.
The BNP leader also said a big bridge over the Jumna River was constructed but bullock carts run under the bridge now during the dry season. “This is happening for the barrage and dams in India,” he said.
He also said most rivers in Bangladesh are losing their depths and widths due to the unilateral withdrawal of water from the common rivers by India during the dry season, causing floods during the rainy season.
Mosharraf alleged that it has been long the current government has failed to ink the Teesta water-sharing deal and ensure a fair share of waters from other common rivers due to its knee-jerk foreign policy.
Raushon Ershad returns home from Thailand
Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Raushon Ershad returned home from Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand, on Monday after nearly seven and a half months of stay there for medical treatment.
She reached Hazrat Shahjajal International Airport around 12 noon, said her assistant private secretary Md Mamum Hasan.
Read:Raushon doing well, set to return home Monday: GM Quader
Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader along with the party’s senior leaders welcomed the opposition leader at the airport.
Earlier on Sunday, GM Quader said Raushon, the chief patron of the Jatiya Party, was now doing well as her physical condition improved a lot.
Rahgir Al Mahi Saad Ershad MP (Rangpur-3) who along with his wife Mahima Ershad accompanied Raushon in Bangkok throughout her stay there said his mother is now fine, but very weak.
“She has problems in her legs and still can’t walk properly. It may take time for her to gain back her strength. She needs more physiotherapy,” he said.
Read:Raushon Ershad taken to Bangkok for better treatment
Saad said Raushon will also go to Bangkok for follow-up treatment on July 4 next.
On November 5 last year, Raushon was flown to Thailand by an air ambulance as her health condition turned critical. She has been receiving treatment at Bumrungrad Hospital since then.
Earlier, Raushon Ershad, 78, underwent treatment at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) as she fell ill seriously due to old age complications.
Jatiya Party MP slams pro-rich budget for not addressing 'unbridled looting'
Jatiya Party MP Kazi Firoz Rashid on Sunday came down heavily on the finance minister for favouring the rich section of people while preparing the budget for the 2022-23 fiscal.The Jatiya Party MP elected from Dhaka claimed that Finance Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal mixed oil and water in such a way that it is impossible to separate them.speaking in Parliament on the budget 2022-23 fiscal said the financial institutions of the country have gone under the control looters.Unrestrained looting is going on in financial institutions as if there is no one to watch over them, he alleged.Firoz said that Bangladesh Bank, and Banking Division of the Ministry of Finance are silent and mum.
Read: Raushon doing well, set to return home Monday: GM Quader"This unbridled looting can not be stopped," he said.He questioned how PK Haldar looted thousands of crores and went abroad. "It didn’t happen in a day. PK Haldar has traveled abroad 133 times with his six girlfriends," he said. Kazi Firoz Rashid criticised the rules which allow the director of one bank to take money from another bank. Money is not being invested.The Jatiya Party MP complained that calling itself Gono Tadanto Commission, a section that has no constituency among the people submitted a 2200 page inquiry report that lets off these looters, and instead targets the alems and ulemas, the pious section of society. "For two years they have toured all over the country. Where did they get this money?" he questioned.
Read: All avenues of justice for people shut: BNP Firoz Rashid supported the proposal to bring back the siphoned money through paying taxes, although the proposal is unethical.He proposed to pay 12 percent tax instead of seven percent on the condition that the persons would invest the money in the country.Kazi Firoz Rashid said the Padma Bridge is not a political issue. "This bridge is a matter of pride and pride of the nation. This bridge has conveyed the message of financial strength and capability of Bangladesh to the world. "He mentioned that this bridge was not built to collect money. The Prime Minister has gifted this bridge for the development of the fate of three crore people.
Raushon doing well, set to return home Monday: GM Quader
Leader of the Opposition in Parliament Raushon Ershad is set to return home from Bangkok, the capital city of Thailand, on Monday after nearly seven and a half months of stay there for medical treatment.
She is scheduled to reach Hazrat Shahjajal International Airport at 12:10pm, said Jatiya Party Chairman GM Quader who returned home from Thailand on Sunday noon.
Read:Raushon Ershad taken to Bangkok for better treatment
He said Raushon, also the chief patron of the Jatiya Party, is now doing well.
“Her physical condition has improved a lot,” the Jatiya Party Chairman said.
He asked party leaders and activists who are not preoccupied to be present at the airport by 12 pm to welcome Raushon.
Earlier on Thursday, GM Quader went to Thailand to visit Raushon.
Contacted, her son Rahgir Al Mahi Saad Ershad MP (Rangpur-3) who along with his wife Mahima Ershad has been accompanying Raushon in Bangkok since she went there said her mother is now fine, but very weak.
“She has problems in her legs and still can’t walk properly. It may take time for her to gain back her strength. She needs more physiotherapy,” he said.
Read: Eric announces new JaPa committee making Raushon chairman
Saad said Raushon will also go to Bangkok for follow-up treatment on July 5 next.
On November 5 last year, Raushon was flown to Thailand by an air ambulance as her health condition turned critical. She has been receiving treatment at Bumrungrad Hospital since then.
Earlier, Raushon Ershad, 78, underwent treatment at the Combined Military Hospital (CMH) as she fell ill seriously due to old age complications.
Mirza Fakhrul contracts Covid-19
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Saturday tested positive for Covid-19 for the second time.
“The BNP secretary general has been diagnosed with the coronavirus,” BNP media cell member Sayrul Kabir Khan told UNB.
He said Fakhrul underwent the Covid test in the morning as he was suffering from fever and the report came positive.
Sayrul said the BNP leader was infected with the virus for the second time though he had received the booster dose of the Covid vaccine.
Read: AL govt has become enemy of people: Fakhrul
He said Fahrul has been receiving treatment in isolation at his Uttra home under the supervision of medicine specialist Dr Raihan Rabbani.
On behalf of BNP and the family members, Sayrul urged people to pray for the speedy recovery of Fakhrul.
Earlier on January 11 last, Fakhrul and his wife Rahat Ara Begum were infected with coronavirus.
All avenues of justice for people shut: BNP
BNP on Saturday alleged that the government has unleashed a fascist and repressive rule in the country by shutting down all the avenues of justice for people.
In a statement, BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said, “The illegal regime that usurped the state power is now repressing people like a fascist. In this case, enforced disappearance and extrajudicial killing are the main weapons of the ruling quarter.”
He also said people belonging to opposition parties, including BNP, are being killed selectively in the name of different drives across the country. “All the avenues of justice for people have been closed in the country.”
The statement was issued on the occasion of the United Nations’ International Day in Support of Victims of Torture to be observed across the country on Sunday.
Read: AL govt has become enemy of people: Fakhrul
Fakhrul said the government has imposed the one-party misrule on the country since it has no accountability to people.
“Evil attempts are being made to regulate the media through intimidation and threats. “Freedom of the press is now completely at stake,” he said.
Stating that the country is going through a tough time, the BNP leader said political leaders, human rights activists, political analysts who are vocal in favour of democracy are being subjected to oppression, enforced disappearance and killing.
He said the government has continued filing 'false' cases against BNP leaders and activists and dissidents and arresting them.
“All the achievements and progress of the nation are now being lost in the darkness. Democracy is being hit the hardest by the continuance of oppression. We have to remove this anarchy,” Fakhrul said.
Read: Padma Bridge symbol of Bangladesh’s “economic strength, confidence”
He alleged that BNP chairperson and former Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia has been kept under house arrest by convicting her in completely untrue and fabricated cases out of the government’s vengeance.
“Despite the fact that our leader is very ill, the government is not giving her any scope to go abroad for proper such treatment. Her life has been put in danger for lack of advanced treatment,” the BNP leader said.
He urged the democracy-loving people of the country to get united and put up a resistance against all forms of oppression.
Khaleda returns home from hospital
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia returned home on Friday evening after a 14-day stay in the capital's Evercare Hospital for the treatment of her various health complications, including blockages in her arteries.
The BNP chief left the hospital at about 5:40pm and reached her Gulshan residence around 6:10pm.
Earlier at a press conference, the medical board formed to ensure Khaleda’s treatment at the hospital, said the ailing BNP chief was discharged from the hospital due to a risk of Covid infection as the virus cases are on the rise again in the country.
Dr Shahabuddin Talukder, the head of the medical board, said, "Madame (Khaleda) is still ill. But she’s now stable. We don’t want to keep her here (hospital) now amid the surge in Covid cases. There’s a chance of Covid and other infections if she now stays here.”
He also feared that her condition will be very critical if Khaleda gets a viral or bacterial infection. “That is why the full medical board has decided to release her from the hospital.”
The physician said if there is any complications further, she will be admitted to the hospital immediately.
“Bleeding complication is now a very challenging matter for her. As she has a liver cirrhosis problem, she is now at high risk of bleeding. We overcame her kidney complications. There are still two blockages in her coronary arteries,” he said.
Prof Shahabuddin said Khaleda will have to be kept under full monitoring though she is going to stay at home.
He said the doctors will ensure her proper treatment at her residence.
Replying to a question, Dr Shahabuddin said they identified three blockages, including a culprit one with 95 percent block, in the BNP chief’s arteries.
As per the international medical guideline practice, he said they set up a stent removing only the culprit blockage which was causing her chest pain and heart failure.
The physicians said the BNP chairperson was facing renal and heart failure while they were removing her blockage. “Her kidneys could have been totally shut down had we tried to remove two other blockages. That's why we didn't remove those blockages."
Also read: Khaleda to return home from hospital today
He also said they treated Khaleda by overcoming many challenges as she has liver cirrhosis, diabetes, kidney problem and other comorbidities. “We all were shaky while treating her due to various challenges.”
The doctor also said they might not save Khaleda if she was not taken to the hospital immediately in the early hours of June 10.
Another medical board member Professor AFM Siddiqui said the BNP chief has many critical illnesses, including renal failure, chances of bleeding and liver cirrhosis.
Stating that there is no treatment for liver cirrhosis in the country, he said they just stopped the bleeding spots through ligation. “But we have not been able to follow up on them. It’s becoming riskier to follow up now due to her cardiac condition.”
The physician said they have long been repeatedly talking about sending Khaleda to an advanced centre for her comprehensive treatment of all critical diseases. “We don’t have that kind of centre and measures. That is why we have been saying that her proper and complete treatment is not possible in our country.”
Dr AZM Zahid Hossain, a personal doctor of Khaleda, said the BNP chief and her family members thanked all, including doctors, nurses, paramedics and everyone involved with the management of the hospital, for providing her treatment with sincerity.
He said the BNP chief also urged the country’s people to pray for her speedy recovery.
Khaleda was admitted to Evercare Hospital on June 10 as she complained of chest pain.
Later, doctors said she suffered a heart attack due to 95 per cent blockage in her left artery and a stent was placed there by removing the blockage.”
Two more blockages were found in the arteries of the BNP chairperson through a coronary angiogram.
She was shifted to a cabin from the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) on June 15.
Khaleda, a 76-year-old former prime minister, has long been suffering from various ailments, including liver cirrhosis, arthritis, diabetes, kidney, lung and eye problems.
AL govt has become enemy of people: Fakhrul
BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Friday alleged that the Awami League government has become the enemy of the people by resorting to repressive acts and unleashing misrule.
“Awami League has usurped power by snatching people’s basic rights systematically. A horrible situation has been created in the country due to its misrule and misdeeds, including enforced disappearance,” he said.
The BNP leader also said the current government has taken a stance against the country’s people in every aspect. “This regime has been identified as the enemy of the country’s people.”
Fakhrul was talking to reporters after visiting the house of BNP leader Chodhury Alam who was made disappeared on June 24, 2010, from the capital’s Farmgate area.
Also read: Khaleda to return home from hospital today
Fakhrul together with some BNP leaders went to Alam’s Khilgaon residence, marking the 12 anniversary of his enforced disappearance.
He talked to the family members and enquired about their condition.
Fakhrul said those who have been made disappeared have been deprived of their right to life while their family members have been left in the lurch.
He said families of the enforced disappearance victims are not getting the inheritance certificate and property ownership, and they cannot transact money kept in the bank accounts of their missing dear ones. “These families are in dire straits.”
“Chowdhury Alam has been missing for 12 years since the repressive force of the government picked him up. Despite frantic efforts, nether neither his family nor our party could trace him. This regime also couldn’t say anything about his whereabouts.” Fakhrul said.
Also read: Govt indulges in celebration keeping flood victims unfed, alleges Fakhrul
He said many such incidents have taken place since the Awami League government came to power.
The BNP leader said more than 600 BNP leaders and activists, including former MP Ilias Ali, have been subjected to enforced disappearance during the rule of the Awami League.
He said it is clearly mentioned in the United Nations Charter, that enforced disappearance is a crime against humanity. “But the fascist and autocratic regime has resorted to such incidents.”
He said many parents lost their children, while many wives lost their husbands over the last 15 years of Awami League’s misrule.
Fakhrul said people have been subjected to extrajudicial killing, enforced disappearance and killing in custody only to suppress democratic movements, “It can’t happen in a civilised society.”
About the flood situation, Fakhrul who visited Sylhet on Thursday, said people are crying for help as the government is not standing beside them with adequate relief materials.
“I myself went to Sylhet yesterday (Thursday). If you don't see it with your own eyes, you can't have any idea about its severity,” he said.
Fakhrul alleged that the government has not taken any measures to alleviate the sufferings of the flood-hit people and to provide relief to them and to rehabilitate them."
He called upon the country’s people to get united to force the current government to quit and hand power to a non-party neutral administration.
Khaleda to return home from hospital today
BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia is going to return home today (Friday) from the capital’s Evercare Hospital after treatment for 13 days for her various health complications, including cardiac ones.
“The medical board at the Evercare is thinking of releasing Madam (Khaleda) from the hospital as the Covid cases are growing fast, said the BNP chief’s personal doctor AZM Zahid Hossain.
Read:Khaleda gets permanent bail in defamation cases
He said the doctors will ensure her proper treatment at her home.
“Hopefully, Madam will be discharged from the hospital by the afternoon,” Zahid said.
He said the medical board at the hospital for Khaleda’s treatment will inform the media about her health condition at a press conference at 3pm today.
Khaleda was admitted to Evercare Hospital on June 10 as she suddenly fell ill.
Doctors said she suffered a heart attack due to 95 percent blockage in her left artery and a stent has been placed there by removing the blockage.”
Two more blockages were found in the arteries of the BNP chairperson through a coronary angiogram.
Read: Khaleda has two more blockages in arteries; kept under 72-hrs observation
She was shifted to a cabin from the Coronary Care Unit (CCU) on June 15.
Khaleda, a 76-year-old former prime minister, has long been suffering from various ailments, including liver cirrhosis, arthritis, diabetes, kidney, lung and eye problems.
Govt indulges in celebration keeping flood victims unfed, alleges Fakhrul
BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Thursday alleged that the government is indulging in the celebration of the Padma Bridge inauguration by keeping the lakhs of flood victims in the country’s northeastern region hungry.
“Our people are starving and not getting treatment in the flood-affected areas, but they (govt) are occupied with Padma Bridge inauguration festival,” he said.
The BNP leader made the remarks while distributing relief materials on the premises of Khazar Mokam High School in Sylhet’s Jaintiapur Upazila among the flood-affected people.
Also read: BNP turns down invitation to join Padma Bridge opening programme
Fakhrul claimed that the government allocated only Tk 60 lakh for 30 lakh flood victims in the Sylhet region while hundreds of crores of taka are being spent on the inauguration programme of the Padma Bridge.
He also said the government is arranging amusement programmes for the inauguration on Saturday while people are dying amid lack of food and relief materials in the flood-hit areas
“People are being washed away by the floods, not getting food and treatment. But the government has no attention to it. Around Tk 9 crores have been spent on making 90 toilets at Mawa for the opening programme of the bridge. If the money was given to the flood victims of Sylhet then people would not suffer so much,” the BNP leader observed.
Fakhrul together with BNP standing committee member Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku reached Sylhet from Dhaka by road at noon to witness the flood situation and distribute relief materials among the affected people.
Also read: Flood victims left in the lurch: Fakhrul
They also offered ziarat at the shrine of Hazrat Shahjalal (RA) before visiting the flood-hit areas.
Stating that people in Sylhet and Sunamganj are crying for relief materials to survive, the BNP leader said the government has failed to stand by the flood-hit people. “While lakhs of people are crying out for relief, the Prime Minister has completed her duty by providing relief to a few only.”
Fakhrul recalled that BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia during her government in 2004 walked door-to-door and ensured relief materials at people’s doorsteps. “But the current Prime Minister visited the flood-hit area by helicopter."
“The ruling party is not standing beside the flood victims in this difficult time. Even, the Prime Minister arrived in Sylhet by helicopter and had a meeting at the Circuit House with senior officials and ministers and MPs. She only gave seven people seven packets as eyewash during her visit,” he said.
The BNP leader said the ruling party MPs are also not going to the flood victims as they are not elected with their votes. “In fact, Awami League has no relation with people.”
He alleged that Awami League taking mega projects for corruption and plundering, but it does not take any project for the welfare of the country's people.
The BNP leader said the government has snatched people's voting and other rights by 'usurping' power.
He said their party will not join any other election if it is not held under a non-party neutral government. “Just like a fox can’t be given the charge of taking care of a chicken, Sheikh Hasina can’t be given the responsibility for holding an election under her.”
Fakhrul said BNP leaders and activists to get ready for waging a movement to resist the current regime and restore people’s voting rights.