Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud said, "BNP is afraid of the election because they know the state of their popularity. Because of this, they are walking on the path of conspiracy instead of walking on the path of election.
The minister said this in response to a question from journalists after the speech of the chief guest at the closing ceremony of the 'Road Safety Reporting' seminar organized by the National Media Institute (NIMC) at the Kakrail Information Building conference room in the capital on Monday afternoon.
In response to a question about BNP Secretary General's statement that 'BNP will not step into the election trap', the minister said, 'BNP is actually scared of elections. It is natural to be apprehensive because in 2008, BNP won only 29 out of 300 seats in the election under the leadership of Begum Khaleda Zia. Later in the by-election they managed to cross 30 seats. In 2014 they boycotted the elections. And in the 2018 election, all parties united and 'hired' people like Dr Kamal Hossain and participated in the election and got only 7 seats including female seats. They know about their popularity, they know how successful they can be in the elections, that is why they are scared of elections. As a result, they are walking on the path of conspiracy.
Hasan Mahmud said, 'We want BNP to overcome the fear of elections and participate in the elections. As in all other democracies, the government during the election will be the current government and the election will be held under the Election Commission. It is our expectation that the government party Awami League will participate there and all political parties including BNP will participate.
When asked about Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir's comment, 'When you hear about Awami League's peace rally, you think of the Peace Committee of 1971', Minister Hasan said, 'Mirza Sahib's father was a member of the Peace Committee and was pro-Pakistan. After independence, Mirza Fakhrul was also in hiding for a long time, for this he remembers more about the Peace Committee, and nothing else. Whenever they do political programs, they either fight themselves or fight with the police. We are holding a peace rally with the people to maintain peace and order in the country.
Earlier, the Minister of Information and Broadcasting said on the topic of road safety in the seminar, "A road accident does not only cripple or kill a person, but also kills and cripples the whole family. To stop this, we all need collective efforts and concerted efforts including vehicle owners, drivers, workers, law enforcers. At the same time, the televisions have to promote awareness advertisements on their own initiative. There are so many talk shows about politics, there is a need for talk shows about road safety, there is a need for good reporting.”
Under the chairmanship of Director General of National Media Institute Faizul Haque, Additional Secretary Farooq Ahmed spoke as a special guest. Road Safety Foundation Chairman Professor Dr. Al Mahbub Uddin Ahmed, BUET Accident Research Institute Professor Dr. Mohammad Mahbub Alam Talukdar, News Agency UNB Advisory Editor Farid Hossain, BRTA Director (Road Safety) Sheikh Mohammad Mahbub-e-Rabbani, Asia-Pacific Institute for Broadcasting Development (AIBD) Program Manager Nabeel Tirmazi, NIMC Director Dr Maruf Nawaz and Seminar Director Mohammad Abu Sadiq addressed the seminar. 20 journalists from different media participated in the day-long seminar organized with the support of World Health Organization and AIBD.
