Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader on Tuesday said the BNP's threat of so-called mass upsurge to overthrow the incumbent government is nothing but a "blank shot" of its leaders.
“In the last one decade, BNP leaders, including Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, were talking about the fall of the government through so-called mass uprising and were threatening that the Awami League leaders and workers would have to face dire consequences like the 2001-to-2006 situation,” he said in a statement.
Quader, also the road transport and bridges minister, said he strongly condemned and protested the continuous falsehood and propaganda of the BNP leaders, including BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir.
Noting that the country's people will not be misled due to the BNP’s falsehood, he said the people have strongly rejected the BNP leaders as they are involved in various anti-state conspiracies at national and international levels in implementation of their plot to oust the government.
Quader said the country's people repeatedly staged silent revolutions against the BNP through ballots due to the party's involvement in terrorism and militancy, patronizing of war criminals, opening of Hawa Bhaban-Khoyab Bhaban and institutionalizing of graft at all levels, money-laundering abroad, swindling of orphans' money, the August 21 grenade attack, series of bomb attacks, the reign of torture, murder, rape, destructive politics and arson attacks.
He said the BNP leaders are now talking about the price hike of essential commodities.
The global coronavirus pandemic continues for more than two years, disrupting the normal flow of import and export and reducing the production of some import dependent products in many countries, he said, adding that the Russia-Ukraine war and various tensions and sanctions in the international arena have resulted in abnormal price hike in the world market.
The road transport minister said like other countries, Bangladesh has been facing the impacts of global price hike of commodities.
At the same time, he said, there is the conspiracy of a vested quarter and ill-efforts of profit-mongers and hoarders.
Quader said the country's people did not forget the terrible memory of the skyrocketing price of essential commodities during the regimes of BNP-Jamaat government.
He said the BNP had failed absolutely in checking the price hike of essential commodities.
The AL general secretary said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government is a people-oriented one, while the people are the only source of the AL's strength.
He said the present government is committed to the country's people and it prepares plans and programmes prioritizing their interest.
Quader said as per the directives of the prime minister, the cabinet has already directed the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to cut tariffs on import of oil, sugar and other essential commodities.
Urging the BNP to play a responsible role to this end refraining from making misleading remarks and propaganda, he said drives continue against unscrupulous traders while a huge amount of edible oil was seized. “We hope that there will be no crisis in market and we will be able to control price hike within a short time,” Quader added.