Staff Reporter:
Professor Dr Muhammad Yunus has committed sedition by calling on the international community to help arrange snap general elections in Bangladesh, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said at a press briefing on Thursday.
Speaking on behalf of the ruling Awami League, Quader, also general secretary of the party, called on the government to take legal action against Dr Yunus for this offence.
The Nobel Laureate’s recent statement asking foreign governments to directly intervene in Bangladesh’s internal affairs amounts to sedition, as per the country’s laws, and also mark a grave violation of international laws, Quader said at the political office of Awami League president at Dhanmondi in the capital.
The Awami League leader alleged that Dr Yunus is plotting against the state to save himself from the corruption trials he currently faces.
“How can a Nobel Prize winner like Dr Yunus make such appeals to the international community, when these can clearly tarnish the country’s global image?,” Quader questioned.
The current government is democratically elected and it can be changed only through democratic practices, he said.
Referring to the recent violence during students’ job quota reform movement, the Awami League general secretary said BNP and Jamaat called in militants and terrorists from different parts of the country to wreak havoc in the capital Dhaka.
These criminals infiltrated the students’ gatherings and shot many, including children, at point-blank range, Quader said adding investigations are ongoing to reveal the true extent of the violent situation.
He also refuted claims of issuing “shoot on sight” orders, saying the orders were not given to law enforcers. And since the curfew was imposed, the army did not fire a single shot.
Every incident of killing during the protest would be investigated for identifying the culprits, Quader said urging law enforcers not to harass any innocent individual during the process, and rather carry out respective duties responsibly.
