Jamaat Ameer Cannot Evade Responsibility for Violence around Workers' Movement, Says Rashed Khan

Rashed Khan, political assistant to the prime minister, has said the Jamaat ameer cannot evade responsibility for Awami League mischief around the garment workers' movement. He made the remark on Tuesday (3 November) afternoon, answering journalists' questions after the janaza of Jhenaidah district BNP relief and rehabilitation secretary Israil Hossain at the Government Naldanga Bhushan School field.

He said there is certainly solidarity with the workers' just demands. The Awami violence centring on this workers' movement is something the Jamaat ameer cannot evade responsibility for. He noted that the government has already begun implementing the demand over which they are holding a long march.

Rashed Khan said the Jamaat ameer had said at the long march that if the demand was not met, everything would be wrecked. In his words, after that statement by the Jamaat ameer, the Awami League and Chhatra League began wrecking around the garment workers' movement. He also said garment factories are being set on fire to destroy Bangladesh's economy.

On tearing the Amar Desh newspaper, he said Amar Desh was once their newspaper. But after the interim government was formed, it began publishing various narratives in its newspaper to bring Jamaat to power. In his words, Amar Desh is now Jamaat's mouthpiece and people now call its house Jamaat's propaganda house.

He further said Jamaat leader Mia Golam Parwar had met an Indian intelligence official and that he had presented information in this regard. He also challenged that if the information about the meeting was false, a defamation case should be filed against him. He said he had torn a false narrative, torn an untruth, and torn the Awami League tagging that had been made against him.

On the gas price increase, Rashed Khan said there is a fuel and gas crisis in the country. The government is trying to tackle the crisis through alternative means. No gas well was drilled or gas exploration carried out during the time of the Awami League and the interim government. Market syndicates are non-cooperating with the government in various ways. He said the government would fix the gas price once this gas problem is resolved.

He also said the BNP government has to run the country while confronting two evil forces. He commented that the defeated forces of 1971 and 2024 are trying to make the government fail.

Also present at the time were Kaliganj Police Station OC Zulfikar Ali, former senior joint convener of Kaliganj Upazila BNP Hamidul Islam, former general secretary Tabibur Rahman Mini, and others.