DTCA Executive Director Removed After Comparing Prime Minister's Slogan to Hadith

Mohammad Mosiur Rahman, executive director (secretary) of the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA), has been removed from the post and attached to the Ministry of Public Administration after facing intense controversy for comparing a political slogan of the prime minister to hadith.

A formal notification to this effect was issued on Tuesday from the Senior Appointment-1 branch of the Ministry of Public Administration. Deputy Secretary Jeti Pru signed the notification by order of the President. The order, issued in the public interest, takes effect immediately, the notification said.

Earlier, on 1 November, he made the controversial remarks while speaking at the formal inauguration of an experimental bus service on six routes under the 'one route, one company' initiative to restore discipline in public transport in the capital. There he drew a comparison between hadith and the slogan given by Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, 'Karab Kaj, Garab Desh, Sabar Age Bangladesh'.

At the event, Mosiur Rahman said that if he called the prime minister's slogan a hadith, many might think he was flattering for a better posting next; but to him it was an eternal truth. He also said, 'We before me, country before all — who can deny this? Only a selfish person, one without patriotism, can say, no, I do not accept it.'

At one point in his speech he further said, 'If the hujurs had said this, it would have become hadith. He has no beard on his face, he does not wear a cap, that is why it did not become hadith! This is hadith.'

A video of the comparison between a religious text and a party slogan spread on social media, drawing intense criticism and reactions in various quarters.

It was after this incident that the government decided to withdraw him from the DTCA responsibility and attach him to the Ministry of Public Administration.