Dhaka – BNP senior leader Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain on Monday said the dengue situation has turned epidemic in the country for lack of preparedness of the government and the two city corporations.
“Flood and dengue are the two big problems the country is now facing. But the government has failed to tackle that. This government has become nervous. So, they’re calling dengue as a rumour to hide their failures,” he said.
Mosharraf, a BNP standing committee member, said dengue fever is nothing new as the country has been witnessing the problem for a long time. “The prevalence of dengue was during 2001-2006 when I was health minister. But we could check its outbreak and casualties as we had the proper preparedness.”
He also said the dengue situation could have been controlled this time as well had the government taken necessary preventive steps in due time. “The dengue situation has turned epidemic due to the failure and negligence of the health minister of the current government and the two city mayors.”
BNP’s cultural wing Jatiyatabadi Samajik Sangskritik Sangstha (Jasas) organised the programme at Dhaka Reporters’ Unity (DRU), demanding the release of Khaleda Zia from jail.
Mosharraf said though experts warned about the spread of dengue and Aedes mosquito as monsoon began early this year, the ministers concerned and the two mayors did not take it seriously.
He said many untoward incidents are now happening in Bangladesh for lack of a representative government. “The current government is an unusual one, and it won’t be able to stay in power for a long time.”
Mosharraf said the government is exposing its failure on all fronts, creating a social unrest. “A man was killed in a court in Cumilla in broad daylight. Such incidents never happened in Bangladesh in the past.”
The BNP leader said crimes like rape of children, beheading and mass beating marked a sharp rise as the law-and-order situation collapsed. “Social degradation is now everywhere. Big government officials are now being arrested… These are not good signs for society. A pro-people government must be established to overcome the situation.”
The BNP leader also criticised the government for not taking any step against Priya Saha for making a false allegations to the US President about disappearance of minority people from Bangladesh.
He said common people and Awami League leaders tried to file cases against Priya Saha, but the Prime Minister stopped them. “So, we can naturally say there’s a mystery behind it. The Prime Minister is trying to hush it up.”
Mosharraf alleged that the government has kept their party chairperson Khaleda Zia in jail to establish a dictatorship in the country and annihilate democracy.
Mentioning that there is no other alternative to waging a movement to free Khaleda, he urged his party colleagues to get united and mobilise public support to take to the streets.UNB
