‘Two sides have become one’
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Tuesday alleged that opposition Jamaat-e-Islami and the ousted Awami League have joined hands in a bid to destabilise the country and obstruct its progress, claiming that attempts have been made to foment labour unrest in several places and factories recently.
Addressing a public rally at Madrasa Ground in Rajshahi on Tuesday afternoon, he said the government had clear intelligence on the matter.
The fugitive autocrat, he alleged, was supplying money to create labour unrest,
and several parties that had tried to “sell tickets” before the election were also involved.
Referring indirectly to the banned Awami League and the opposition Jamaat-e-Islami, the Prime Minister said: “There is clear intelligence that the autocrat who fled is supplying funds there… Who are they helping? There are a number of parties that spread confusion in the country. They tried to sell various tickets to the public before the election.
These two sides have become one. One is giving money from across the border, while the other is sitting here trying to create unrest.”
Tarique Rahman said the BNP government was working to bring stability, improve security, reopen closed factories and make farmers self-reliant. The government is also trying to create jobs at home and abroad by improving workers’ skills, he said.
However, he alleged, a few parties were trying to obstruct this work by creating disorder on the streets.
The Prime Minister said conspiracies had also been hatched in the past when development initiatives were taken under martyred President Ziaur Rahman and former Prime Minister Khaleda Zia. Efforts to hinder the country’s progress, he alleged, continue even now.
Equal rights for all faiths
Earlier in the day, Tarique Rahman visited the Durga Puja mandap at Dharmasabha (Radha Gobinda Temple) in Rajshahi and exchanged greetings with members of the Hindu community on the occasion of Sharadiya Durga Puja.
He said every citizen enjoys equal rights regardless of religion, ethnicity, profession or social identity, and that his government wants to build the desired Bangladesh by bringing people of all faiths together without leaving anyone behind.
“We were born in Bangladesh and grew up here. We have to live here, and our children will also grow up in this country. So, let us all work together to build the Bangladesh we aspire to,” he said.
He said Bangladeshi identity was the common identity of all, and that people of every religion were equal in the eyes of the government. At the temple, he handed over a cheque for Tk 10 lakh to the authorities.
It was his first visit to Rajshahi since forming the government after the BNP won a majority in the 13th parliamentary election.
He later left for Shah Makhdum Airport to travel to Chattogram. Maha Navami is being observed today, and the five-day festivities will end tomorrow with idol immersion on Bijoya Dashami.
