Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has instructed cabinet members and her party to be vigilant about Hefazat-e-Islam so that it cannot commit “subversive” activities in other areas of the country after their rally turned violent in Dhaka on Sunday.
Their activities will be dealt with by an iron hand if they try to engage in violence anywhere in the country. They will not be given any space in Dhaka or elsewhere even where they have strong support, Hasina said, as quoted by several ministers present in the meeting at the secretariat on Monday.
The premier tasked her personal secretary with preparing a list, within the day, with names of all the hawkers who lost their shops and goods in the destruction at the Motijheel and Baitul Mokarram areas.
She also told him to ask the victims to file cases against the perpetrators of the attacks and their instigators, demanding compensation.
To avoid any ambiguity over the number of deaths, the prime minister asked the authorities concerned to compile a list of all Hefazat activists who died in the incident.
The meeting also addressed the question of potential instigators and suggested taking legal actions against them. The names of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia and Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad came up.
Hasina, also the Awami League president, and most of her cabinet expressed their views about taking legal action against the two as instigators.
The cabinet yesterday gave its nod in principle to the draft act on non-formal education, to reduce illiteracy in the country. The draft will be tabled again for final approval.
After the meeting, Cabinet Secretary Mohammad Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan told reporters that the council of ministers also reconstituted the committee charged with inspecting all the garments factories in the country and submitting a report with recommendations, under the leadership of Jute and Textiles Minister Abdul Latif Siddiqui. State Minister for the labour and employment ministry Monnujan Sufian will be its vice-chairperson. The last cabinet meeting decided to form the committee under the leadership of a state minister.
