Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader on Sunday said BNP has taken a crooked political strategy to criticise the government amid the ongoing coronavirus crisis, reports BSS.
“Not disclosing the fact of any incident and twisting it, conducting political propaganda is an offense,” he said.
Quader, also road transport and bridges minister, was speaking at a virtual press conference on the contemporary affairs from his official residence.
Coming down heavily on BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir for criticising the government amid the COVID-19 crisis, the AL general secretary said Fakhrul’s remarks were ill-motivated ones aimed to mislead the country’s politics and media.
“If there is any irregularity in relief distribution, you (Fakhrul) have the scope to reveal it. But, making it twisted, conducting political propaganda is an offense,” he said.
Quader said the government, led by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, shows respect to the political rights of the country’s citizens. “But, without verifying the facts, the ill-strategy to mislead people is not acceptable at all,” he added.
About the alleged misuse of the Digital Security Act, he said: “We are repeatedly saying that the Home Ministry will remain alert so that the Digital Security Act could not be applied in a wrong way. Action will be taken against those who misuse the law.”
Highlighting the relief distribution programmes of both the government and the ruling Awami League, the AL general secretary said as per the instruction of the prime minister, relief and cash assistance have so far been provided to about four crore people.
In addition to this, he said, following the instruction of the AL president, party leaders and activists have provided food aid and cash support to about one crore families across the country.
About the allegations of relief misappropriation, Quader said there are 61,569 public representatives in the country but they all are not involved in irregularities in relief distribution.
The government has taken immediate punitive actions against those found involved in relief irregularities, he said, issuing an warning that even if any AL man is involved in relief misappropriation, action would be taken against him or her.
Mentioning that around 1.2 crore Bangladeshi expatriates are at risk of losing jobs abroad due to coronavirus outbreak, Quader said the foreign ministry should give necessary instructions to the Bangladesh missions abroad over this.
The government allowed reopening of markets and shopping malls considering the country’s overall situation, he said, calling upon all the traders and shoppers to follow health guidelines and maintain social distancing.