The scandal involving distribution of sub-standard gold-coated crests given to foreign friends for supporting the liberation war would not have come to light if the two joint secretaries of the Liberation War Affairs Ministry had been on good terms, an ex-minister told a parliamentary watchdog.
Captain AB Tajul Islam, a former state minister for Liberation War Affairs Ministry and chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the ministry, said the two joint secretaries had had hostile relation over promotion to the rank of additional secretary.
At its first meeting in the parliament building the standing committee formed a three-member sub-committee headed by former primary and mass education minister Afsarul Amin.
Two Awami League MPs Iqbalur Rahim and Golam Dastagir Gazi are the other members of the sub-committee that would submit report to the panel detecting persons involved in the corruption in making 300 crests.
AB Tajul Islam was the minister in-charge of the ministry when the crests were made and handed over to the foreigners who helped Bangladesh's nine-month war of independence against Pakistan.
According to the government decision, each of the foreign friends was supposed to get a 30 bhori silver crest coated with one bhori gold. The Bangladesh Standard and Testing Institution (BSTI) under the Industries Ministry examined the crests and found at best 25% gold and 351 grams of iron alloy instead of silver.
"The BSTI examined the crests on March 18 and sent them to the ministry but the report was shelved in the section. It was not brought to the notice of the secretary. On March 20, we handed over the crests to the recipients," Tajul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune after the meeting.
He said the two joint secretaries, one of whom was in charge of making the crests without floating any tender had bitter personal relation.
"One of them was freedom fighter and promoted to the rank of additional secretary while the other felt deprived. They were always busy in speaking ill of each other. So, one of them leaked it to the media," said Tajul Islam.
"If they had maintained good relation people would never have known about it," said the former minister who came under the attack of an MP.
A committee member, Iqbalur Rahim, first raised the issue of scam over making the crests. Other members supported him and demanded an inquiry into it.
AKM Mozammel Huq, liberation war affairs minister, also supported the proposal.
The government recently relieved a joint secretary Abul Kashem of his responsibilities while another Joint Secretary Golam Mostofa was promoted to the rank of additional secretary.
In line with the proposal of Iqbalur Rahim, the 10-member standing committee recommended that the education ministry should force all schools, colleges, madrasas and kindergarten school to sing national anthem.
Meanwhile, the watchdog also decided that the information ministry should convince the private TV channels to show a short video on the liberation war before start of every news hours. The cinema halls should screen such video too.
The committee members Afsarul Amin, AKM Shahjahan Kamal, Nurunnabi Chowdhury, Golam Dastagir Gazi, Asheq Ullah Rafiq, Swapan Bhattacharjee and Kamrul Laila Jolly attended the meeting with AB Tajul Islam in the chair.
