Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku said the worst people in society “do Awami League,” and that gentlemen do not. Being in government does not mean anyone has become something great, he said; one must work for the country’s welfare and refrain from wrongdoing. He made the remarks as chief guest at the opening of a handloom training centre and basic centre at Mirpur in Sirajganj on Saturday (18 July) afternoon.
Tuku said Pakistan’s economy had once been enriched by handloom money, and that after independence the Awami League had destroyed the industry, claiming the party had harmed the country not just over the past 17 years but since its birth. Many had been killed and tortured while protesting against fascism, he said. On the 13th parliamentary election, the minister said that in the election held after the Awami League’s fall, no one had been intimidated or stopped from going to polling stations, and there had been no cases of votes cast by day and counted at night; the government had been formed through a fair election. He said that while Sheikh Hasina was in power he had said he would not return to the country as long as she was there — that only his body would return — but by God’s will she had fled and he had come back.
Highlighting the importance of the handloom industry, the minister said women could become self-reliant through training, and that the sector offered the chance to grow from a small entrepreneur into a large one. The event, chaired by Textiles and Jute Ministry secretary Sharaf Uddin Ahmad Chowdhury, was also addressed by State Minister for Textiles and Jute Md Shariful Alam. Deputy Commissioner Aminul Islam, Superintendent of Police Saiful Islam Santu, and district BNP general secretary Saidur Rahman Bachchu, among others, were present.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report