Attempts to create instability may continue as long as Hasina is alive, and they will be resisted, prime minister’s adviser says

The government believes attempts to create instability in the country may continue not only in December but for as long as Sheikh Hasina is alive. Such attempts will be resisted, Dr Zahed Ur Rahman, the prime minister’s adviser on information and broadcasting, has said.

He made the remarks on Tuesday (3 November) while answering journalists’ questions at a press conference on the progress of various government activities. Syed Abdal Ahmad, chief information officer of the Department of Information, was present at the press conference.

On garment workers’ wages, Zahed Ur Rahman said wages are usually reviewed every five years. Wages were re-fixed in 2006, 2010, 2013, 2018 and 2023. On that calculation, a new wage board was not due to be formed in 2026 after 2023. However, considering the rising cost of living, inflation and higher fuel prices, the government formed the wage board early from a sympathetic position, he said.

He said the government was prepared to understand that the cost of living is rising and garment workers’ lives are becoming difficult. There is inflation, fuel prices are rising, and following that, the prices of many things are rising too. The government had formed this commission early out of sympathy, so the main demand of the movement should in fact have been settled, he remarked.

Raising allegations of violence and sabotage within the movement for workers’ fair demands, he said the kind of violent behaviour seen among some people could in no way be the behaviour of real garment workers. The home minister, he noted, had spoken, on the basis of intelligence information, of cross-border involvement in these incidents. Although the Awami League does not have the capacity to be politically active, he believes there may be attempts to create sabotage in various places by spending the huge amount of money it holds.

Asked whether the unrest was being created to pave the way for Sheikh Hasina’s return to the country in December, the adviser said the matter was not centred on December alone. The government believes such attempts may continue for as long as Awami League president Sheikh Hasina is alive. In his words, it is not December, it is the whole time; as long as she is alive, the government believes this attempt of hers will continue, and the government will resist it.

Zahed Ur Rahman also referred to a speech Sheikh Hasina gave on the first day of parliament after the 1991 election. He said that after losing that election, Sheikh Hasina had said she would not let the government stay in peace for a single day. He believes that mindset may still be reflected now.

Explaining his earlier remarks about Sheikh Hasina’s return, the adviser said he would speak on the matter again after December ends. If Sheikh Hasina returns to the country and his earlier interpretation is proved wrong, he will publicly apologise. He said that if she appears, a Tuesday will surely come after that; on that Tuesday, he hopes, if he is alive and still in this responsibility, he will come and apologise that day, if his interpretation was wrong.

He also said the government does not want to follow the old path of repression in tackling instability. In his words, law enforcement agencies must apply force in proportion, in accordance with the law and the situation.

Zahed Ur Rahman said Bangladesh’s police will never again be like Hasina’s police. As a citizen, he believes law enforcement agencies have a legal right to use force. But it must be within the legal process and proportionate.

Noting that incidents of disproportionate use of force had been seen in places on social media, he said he was saying this not only while in government but also as a citizen. The government wants fear and harm to ordinary people to be kept as low as possible while controlling instability.

He added that law enforcement agencies have intelligence information about who is joining the movement and how these incidents are happening. The home minister has also spoken on the matter. But the government wants to handle the situation in a way that has less impact on the public.

Expressing hope that the garment workers’ movement would end soon, he said the workers initially had some fair demands. With the government forming a new wage board, it is hoped the workers can be made to understand the matter. If the workers step back from the movement, it will become difficult for anyone else to create instability around it. In his words, the garment workers have taken to the field, and someone is doing this from within that; if they do not take to the field, this problem does not arise.