In the wake of growing infighting in Sylhet within the student wing of the ruling Awami League, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Saturday said stern action will be taken against members of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) found involved in crimes.
“None will be spared, if found involved in any crime,” he warned, while talking to reporters after visiting the under-construction Patgati Bridge on the Madhumati river under Tungipara upazila in Gopalganj.
Quader, also the presidium member of the Awami League, said a fair trial is being held against the members of BCL accused in criminal activities, particularly the murder of Biswajit Das in the capital in December 2012.
He also criticised the BNP and said it would be tough for BNP to survive attacking Bangabandhu and the Liberation War.
About the prospective Padma Bridge, the minister said despite the World Bank’s exit, work in this regard began thanks to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
The construction of the Padma Bridge will be completed by 2018 and it would be opened to traffic in the same year, he said.
About the progress of the Patgati Sheikh Lutfar Rahman Bridge, Quader said its construction was now in the final stage, and hoped that it would be inaugurated by the prime minister in the first week of January 2015.
Earlier, he paid respects to Bangaabandbhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at Tungipara by placing flowers at his grave. He also offered fateha there.
According to UNB’s Pirojpur correspondent, Quader said it is not possible to win the hearts of the people by hanging pictures, billboards, posters and setting up arches beside the streets.
“I want to build an arch out of the love of the people,” he said.
“The duty of the public representatives or ministers is to serve the people who voted them to power,” he said, adding, “It is not the duty of the people to serve the ministers.”
He came up with the remarks while addressing a programme at Bangamata Begum Fazilatunnesa Mujib Women’s College at Nazirpur in the district.
