Awami League Joint General Secretary as well as the Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud said, “Attack on the Hindu community is an attack on the altar of Bangladesh's consciousness and also an attack on the government. By doing so, they wanted to blame the government. The attacks were carried out by conspirators with the nefarious intention of destroying relations of the government with the Hindu community as well as the neighbouring country like killing two birds with one stone.”
The minister said this while responding to a question from reporters after delivering a speech as the chief guest at the tri-anneal conference of Dhamairhat Upazila Awami League virtually in Naogaon on Thursday afternoon. Dhamairhat Upazila Awami League President Md Deldar Hossain, Food Minister Sadhan Chandra Majumder, Awami League Organizing Secretary SM Kamal Hossain, Health Secretary Dr Rokeya Sultana, Naogaon District Awami League President Bir Muktijoddha Md Abdul Malek and Naogaon District MPs addressed the conference.
Dr Hasan Mahmud said, “BNP-Jamaat is doing communal politics in Bangladesh. The BNP gives anti-India slogans during the polls. It is the BNP-Jamaat who forbids the Hindu community from going to the polls. The fact that the Qur'an Sharif was left by a Muslim youth has also come out through investigation. When, he is caught, it will be understood with whose fuel he did it. When everything is as clear as daylight, the face of Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir will go down.”
In response to BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul’s remark that the government wants to make the country devoid of opposition parties he said, “We think strong opposition unites democracy. It is unfortunate that BNP is not able to become strong even if we want to. Many are fleeing from the BNP alliance, many have also given up BNP politics. As you know, many members of the BNP Central Committee have severed ties with the BNP by making announcements.”
When asked about the nature of the incidents in Cumilla and Pirganj, the minister said, “These are isolated incidents. Because people of any community in Bangladesh are not communal. So the events that have happened are caused by the perpetrators and these are isolated incidents. The government has been able to suppress the situation that has arisen in the wake of this. We have also stood by the people politically. But those who did this conspiracy will conspire more. Because they have caused such incidents from time to time. By spreading rumours at the beginning of the construction of the Padma Bridge, they tried to create a volatile situation by constructing a sculpture of Bangabandhu and most recently by placing the Qur'an Sharif in the puja mandap. We have suppressed them. But I don't think the conspiracy has completely stopped.”
Earlier, Dhamairhat Awami League's tri-anneal conference speech Dr Hasan Mahmud said, “Today, when the country is moving forward, when there is communal harmony in the country, attacks have been carried out in various places on the occasion of Durga Puja to discredit Bangladesh Awami League, to discredit the government, to tarnish our good relations with our neighbours. Our government has firmly suppressed it. Our party is working as a vigilant watchdog alongside the Hindu community across the country to maintain communal harmony but, without their purpose, they will try to create more chaos like this. So, I would like to request the leaders and workers that even if these miscreants seem to have stopped for the time being, we have to be vigilant.”