Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader on Wednesday said the extreme communal force Hefazat-e-Islam is continuously carrying out mayhem in different parts of the country and it has now reached intolerable levels.
“Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government is committed to protecting the lives and properties of the people. A list of instigators of terrorism, anarchy and communal forces will be prepared and they will be dealt with politically,” he said at a press conference at his official residence in Dhaka.
Quader, also the road transport and bridges minister, said there is a limit to the patience and tolerance of the country’s people and exceeding the limit will bring dire consequences.
He said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina restored democracy in the country by uniting the people after the killing of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in 1975.
Sheikh Hasina brought war criminals to trial and also freed the nation from stigma by completing the trial in the Bangabandhu killing case. She has made Bangladesh one of the fastest developing countries with a strong economy, he said this at the conference.
The AL general secretary said the people of Bangladesh may be religious but they do not support fanaticism.
“Do not play with fire. If you play with fire, you will burn your hands in the fire,” he added.
He said arson attacks were carried out at public and private offices in different parts of the country, while land deeds and other important land records were burned to ashes at many land offices.
Quader said those involved in these wrongdoings will be identified and legal action will be taken against them.
BNP, Jamaat tried to grab the state power by creating anarchy in the country with arson terrorism in 2013-14, he said.
“Do not break the barrier of our patience. The nation will no longer tolerate the disregard of the spirit of the Liberation War and the dishonour of Bangabandhu. Those who have attacked Bangabandhu’s pictures and sculptures will have to answer for their acts,” he further added.
Calling upon pro-liberation forces to become united under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the AL general secretary said evil forces must be resisted and defeated at any cost.
About public transport amid the ongoing countrywide lockdown, he said the government took the decision to allow public transport in divisional cities, including Dhaka, after considering the public interest.
The minister said the government took the decision to reduce the suffering of the people and there is no way to create confusion about this.
Some people have been spreading propaganda and misleading information about the resumption of long distance bus service, but this is not true at all, the AL general secretary said.
