Syeda Rizwana Hasan, adviser to the Ministry of Environment, Forest, Climate Change, and Water Resources, has said that the government has confirmed Bangladesh's national elections will be held between December 2025 and June 2026, with extensive discussions underway regarding the elections.
She said: "Chief Adviser Dr Yunus has said that the elections will be held in December this year or June next year. However, you will hear from him when this time will be finalized."
Rizwana Hasan told this at a press conference organized by the chief advisor's press wing at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital on Tuesday.
At the time, he said: "Since the law-and-order situation has not yet returned to its previous state, incidents of mob justice or moral policing are occurring in some places."
Mohammadpur incident dismissed
Rizwana Hasan said that since the two parties in Mohammadpur signed a compromise agreement in front of the police, this incident has to be considered final, and therefore no further action can be taken in this regard.
Rizwana Hasan added: "The government has repeatedly made it clear that there is no place for mob justice or moral policing in Bangladesh," and that the government does not support violence against women or any other form of unreasonable behavior.
Meanwhile, last Saturday, in the incident of harassment of two young women at a tea shop in Lalmatia, the police rescued them and took them to Mohammadpur police station. However, the police said that both sides later compromised.
After this incident, a comment by the Home Affairs Adviser led to a strong reaction, and protesters burned effigies demanding his resignation.
Adviser Rizwana Hasan added, even though the incident of mob justice or moral policing occurred, action is being taken by the government. But since both sides agreed to compromise in the Mohammadpur incident, there is no element of a criminal offense between them, no further action could be taken.
She added: "The legality of compromise in criminal cases will depend on the severity of the crime."
Both parties see it as a case of negotiation and have settled it, so the government is unable to take any action.
In response to a question, the adviser said: "The government is taking steps to stop extortion. Whenever any incident comes to light, immediate action is being taken."
At the press conference, when asked about Home Adviser Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, Rizwana Hasan said that she will remain as Home Affairs Adviser. That is, there will be no change in the position of Home Affairs Adviser.
Decision-taking rate is good
Rizwana also said that a review is conducted of the decisions taken by the advisory council. The review shows that out of 135 decisions, 92 have been implemented. The implementation rate is 68.16%. This is quite good.
The adviser also said that while incidents of mob justice and moral policing have occurred from time to time, these incidents will decrease when the law-and-order forces are fully functional.
"Whenever a person faces mob justice, the government will stand by him," she said.
She also commented that time is needed to improve law and order, and it will take some time for the law-and-order situation in the country to return to normal.
Regarding the recruitment of doctors, the adviser said the process of recruiting 3,493 doctors through PSC is underway.
In addition to this, we have decided to recruit 2,000 more doctors. The main objective is to ensure that people in rural areas do not receive treatment, so that they have enough doctors.
Syeda Rizwana Hasan said 5,493 doctors will be recruited across the country, including the capital, to improve healthcare.
This decision was taken at the meeting of the advisory council on Tuesday.
The meeting was held under the chairmanship of Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus.
Regarding energy imports, she said: "You know we are importing LNG from two countries. A few days ago, our trade adviser went to Saudi Arabia. There is the biggest company there called Aramco. We talked to them. They will supply LNG to Bangladesh at a lower price than the market price."
At that time, the Chief Adviser's Press Secretary Shafiqul Alam, Deputy Press Secretary Mohammad Abul Kalam Azad Majumder, Senior Assistant Press Secretary Foyez Ahammad, Assistant Press Secretary Suchismita Tithi were present.
