Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud said the people are now terrified whether petrol-bomb would be found from hurricane lamp procession called by BNP as protesters were shot dead for demanding electricity during the BNP regime.
He said this while talking to journalists on political issues before joining a recitation ceremony arranged by a cultural organization “Swanan” at Bangla Academy on Friday afternoon.
Hasan, also Awami League joint general secretary, said after the coronavirus pandemic, Europe-America is also rationing electricity due to impacts of the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict.
Developed countries are also facing severe difficulties in power generation as the gas price has increased ten times in the global market and oil price increased to a record level, he said presenting the record of measures taken in developed nations in saving electricity.
In the US, people received SMS warnings to save electricity because of the fuel crisis, and similar messages were sent to Japanese and French citizens as well, he said.
Hasan said the power supply has never been stopped in Germany after World War II. But this time people in Germany have also been asked to save electricity and the power supply for hot water has been turned off in many cities there, he added.
When Awami League came to power in 2009, only 40% of people got electricity in their homes and now 100% of people have been brought under electricity coverage, he said.
The minister said the government gave Tk53,000 crore or $6 million in the power and energy sector in the last fiscal year (FY).
Electricity supply was never stopped for a second in many developed countries but now measures for power savings and rationing have been taken there too, he said.
These measures have also been taken in Bangladesh and its people have also been called upon to save electricity, he said.
"Our country is now an isolated island from the world," he said.
Referring to some incidents taken place during the BNP regime, the minister said farmers were shot dead for demanding electricity in Kansat of Chapainawabganj during BNP's government tenure.
During that period, ruling BNP's chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia's son Tarique Rahman's company only installed electric poles without providing electricity, he mentioned.
So, BNP has no ethical right to talk about electricity, he said.
About BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir's comment over Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's remarks, Hasan said the premier generously stated that BNP's processions and rallies will not be obstructed.
And even if BNP goes to the prime minister's official Ganabhaban residence, she will offer them tea, he added.
He said Mirza Fakhrul Islam and other BNP leaders do not realize the generosity of the premier.
The minister said the BNP chairperson earlier had responded indecently to the premier's invitation. "As BNP doesn't understand the merit of invitation, I think there is no need to invite them," he said.
Later, he addressed the recitation ceremony of poet Shyamsundar Sikder's poems as the chief guest in Abdul Karim Sahitya Bisharad auditorium at Bangla Academy.
He underscored the need for increasing the practice of poem recitation for enriching people's thoughts and innovativeness.
Posts and Telecommunications Minister Mustafa Jabbar addressed it as the special guest with Dr Chakresh Chakrabarty in the chair.
Recitation artist Jayanto Chattopadhyay inaugurated the ceremony while Bangla Academy Director General Poet Muhammad Nurul Huda spoke as the chief discussant.
