Fallen autocrat and opposition party conspiring to create anarchy: PM

Prime Minister Tarique Rahman has called upon the countrymen to remain alert and aware, saying that the fallen autocrat and a section of the opposition party are conspiring together to create instability in the country. “Everyone should remain alert.”

He said this at a public meeting organised at Haji Muhammad Mohsin High School ground in Rajshahi on Tuesday afternoon.

The Prime Minister said, “We say one thing: ‘We will work, we will build the country, Bangladesh first.’ Those who do not believe in this slogan and this principle are now engaged in conspiracy. We have intelligence information. You have seen that attempts have been made to create some worker unrest in factories at several places in the country.”

Addressing the countrymen the Prime Minister further said, “I want to say clearly that intelligence agencies have specific information that the fleeing autocrat is supplying money to a particular political party from outside the country. One group is engaged in the conspiracy to mislead the people, others wanted to sell various tickets by telling lies to the people before the election. Now the two sides have become one. One is giving money from across the border, the other is sitting here and trying to create unrest.”

He said, “The time has come for the people of Bangladesh to become aware. I will call upon you to become aware from today so that no one can create anarchy any more. So that no one can obstruct the process of changing the economic condition of the country and the fate of the people that has begun.”

The Prime Minister highlighted the government’s initiatives to reopen various closed factories to solve the unemployment problem. He said, “After the formation of the BNP government in the February 12 election I called the owners of closed factories, many businessmen and entrepreneurs in Rajshahi district and talked to them. I encouraged them to reopen the factories. In the last seven months six factories have been reopened.”

He said, “One of the main aims of reopening the factories is to arrange employment for unemployed workers.”

The Prime Minister said, “We have taken the initiative to reopen about 46 more closed factories across the country within these 12 months from next January to December.”

He said, “To make healthcare easily available for the common people the government has decided to upgrade the number of beds in every upazila hospital of the country from 50 to 100 within the next five years. Alongside separate beds for children and women in these hospitals, initiative will also be taken to ensure dialysis facilities for kidney patients. As a result village people will not have to rush to the city even for treatment of common diseases.”

At the beginning of the public meeting the Prime Minister provided Tk 12 crore as incentive for 38,970 sugarcane farmers of the Rajshahi region. The Prime Minister sent this money to the mobile accounts of the concerned farmers by pressing a button on the computer. He handed over cheques to 15 sugarcane farmers at the programme.

Presided over by BNP Acting Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, Land Minister Mizanur Rahman Minu, Commerce Minister Khandaker Abdul Muktadir, Culture Minister Nitai Roy Chowdhury, BNP Standing Committee member Gayeshwar Chandra Roy and MPs of Rajshahi district spoke at the public meeting.

Thousands of leaders and activists from various wards of the district including followers of Sanatan religion took part in the gathering.

Earlier Tarique Rahman landed at Shah Makhdum Airport by military aircraft at 2:50pm. Before that the Prime Minister visited the puja mandap at Dharmasabha Temple in Rangpur.