Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar also raises concerns over law and order, commodity prices and the banking sector
Jamaat-e-Islami has described the BNP-led government’s performance during its first six months in office as a failure, accusing it of failing to fulfil its electoral commitments and of following the path of the previous “fascist” government.
Speaking at a press conference at Al-Falah Auditorium in Moghbazar, Dhaka, this afternoon, Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar described the government’s failure to implement the referendum verdict as its first and biggest failure. He alleged that by disregarding the result, the government had broken its commitment to the people.
Porwar then identified the gas, fuel and power crisis as the government’s second major failure.
He said the country’s daily gas demand stands at 3,800 million cubic feet, while supply is only 2,700-2,800mmcfd. He said the shortfall has disrupted industrial production and affected employment.
Accusing the government of politicising state and autonomous institutions, the Jamaat leader said BNP activists were being appointed to district councils, development authorities, city corporations, universities and government posts.
He also criticised the deteriorating law-and-order situation and violence on campuses, alleging that opposition leaders and activists continued to face attacks.
“Six opposition leaders and activists have been killed over the past six months,” he said.
On rising commodity prices, Porwar said people had not regained relief despite a slight decline in inflation.
“A fall in inflation from 9.42 percent to 9.16 percent does not mean that the prices of commodities have fallen; rather, the pace of price increases has slowed somewhat,” he said.
He also claimed that the government had made no visible progress in addressing the crisis in the banking sector.
Referring to the volume of default loans, which stood at Tk 588,704 crore at the end of March, he said, “There is extreme anarchy and disorder in the banking sector.”
Porwar further accused the government of failing in agriculture, education, healthcare and the judiciary, while alleging discrimination in development allocations for opposition MPs and political influence in the administration.
He, however, acknowledged some stability in the country’s foreign exchange reserves and the government’s initiative to form a special committee to address the fuel crisis. But he attributed the stability in reserves to remittances rather than any government achievement.
Jamaat Nayeb-e-Ameer Mujibur Rahman, Assistant Secretaries General Maulana Rafiqul Islam Khan, Hamidur Rahman Azad and Maulana Abdul Halim, Central Executive Council members Saiful Alam Khan Milon, Nurul Islam Bulbul, Shafiqul Islam Masud and Muhammad Rezaul Karim, among others, were present at the press conference.
