State Minister for Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Mir Shahe Alam said his son resigned from his post as a Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) director at his own urging, but complained that the move received no media attention.
The state minister made the remarks Thursday in response to a journalist’s question at a “Meet the Press” event organized by the Bangladesh Secretariat Journalist Forum at the secretariat.
Addressing criticism over benefits received by family members of officials, the state minister said: “Look, today whenever our children accomplish something, they get criticized from various angles — why is Amir Khasru Mahmud’s son on the cricket board, why is Salahuddin’s son on the cricket board, why is Mirza Fakhrul Islam’s brother on the cricket board. My own son was also elected to the cricket board unopposed. When the criticism started, my son grew very upset with me. I called him in and explained: son, there will be all kinds of talk about this, you have a lot of business to look after now, please resign.”
The state minister further said: “The day after the board was elected… on my instruction, my son resigned from the cricket board the very next day. None of you highlight this news — that an elected minister removed his own son from the cricket board.”
Earlier, on June 20, Prime Minister Tarique Rahman ordered the renaming of two newly formed unions in Bogura. Earlier, on June 11, a district administration gazette had named a union in Shibganj upazila “Mirbari” and two unions in the newly formed Mokamtala upazila “Simanto” and “Digonto.”
It was later alleged that Mirbari matched the name of the state minister’s ancestral home, while Simanto and Digonto matched the names of his two sons. The matter drew widespread criticism on social media and was also raised in parliament.
Explaining the matter in parliament, the state minister had claimed the union names were determined based on local public opinion and public hearings. He said one union was named “Simanto” (border) because of Gabtali and Sonatola upazilas’ border location, and the other named “Digonto” (horizon) considering geographic features. He described the resemblance to his sons’ names as “coincidental.”
However, the controversy did not subside after that explanation. The prime minister later ordered the union names changed. A Facebook post from BNP’s media cell subsequently cited the district administration as saying steps had been taken to rename the newly formed Simanto and Digonto unions in Bogura’s Mokamtala upazila.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report