BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Monday alleged that Biman Bangladesh Airlines is looking to launch its commercial flight on the Dhaka-Toronto route for the sole purpose of facilitating passengers who made second homes in Canada to siphon off money there.

“You must have seen a direct flight from Dhaka to Toronto (Canada) has been launched on a trial basis. The officials of Biman themselves yesterday (Sunday) said that they did not know the reason behind operating the flight as it won’t be a viable one in any way,” he said.

Speaking at a discussion, the BNP leader further said, “The flight has been initiated only for the convenience of those who travel to Begum Para or to give them the scope to siphon off money directly from Bangladesh in suitcases and trunks.”

‘Begumpara’ is the name given to capture the phenomenon of money laundered to Canada from Bangladesh, a large part of which ends up being invested in the Canadian real estate market in the names of the wives of corrupt individuals, or ‘begums’.  

Association of Engineers Bangladesh, a pro-BNP platform of engineers, arranged the programme at the Jatiya Press Club.

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Earlier on March 26, Biman Bangladesh Airlines launched its first commercial flight on the Dhaka-Toronto route on a trial basis.

Depicting the sorry state of the country, Fakhrul said people are going through serious ordeals due to the unusual price hike of daily essentials caused by unbridled corruption. “Though people are earning money with their hard labour, lakhs of crores of taka have been siphoned off abroad.”

He said corruption and plundering have continued unabated as the current government has no accountability to the country's people. “No question has been raised in the parliament as people have no representation there.”

The BNP secretary general said there is no alternative to launching a united movement to get rid of the current situation of the country.

He urged different professional groups, including the engineers, to come forward to protect the country and its people from misrule. “It is the responsibility of all, not just of political parties, to save the country. Professionals have a big role to play, as they did in the past. ”

Fakhrul also called upon BNP leaders and activists to work for encouraging people to take to the streets to free their party chairperson Khaleda Zia and restore democracy.