Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Sunday said BNP, in fact, is enjoying picnics in the name of holding rallies and they are collecting tolls for those picnics.
"We see that the rally of BNP is a big picnic. They went in Sylhet three days ahead of the rally and they stayed in hotels, played cards and took meals on the ground. In fact, it was a big picnic," he said.
The minister added: "We also went for picnic in the winter season. The BNP leaders from Cumilla, Mymensingh, Dhaka and other places went there and held picnic in the name of rally. For this, they have collected tolls from across the country. Even, many businessmen have claimed that BNP is collecting or trying to collect tolls by intimidation."
The minister said these to reporters while replying to a query over BNP's ongoing rally at the meeting room of his ministry at the Secretariat in capital Dhaka.
About some reports of mass media, Hasan said it is not appropriate to do politics in the name of journalism. BNP's rally was held in Sylhet yesterday (Saturday) while Awami League's rally was held in Gazipur, the outskirt of Dhaka on the same day, he added.
He said both the rallies had equal numbers of people. But the Gazipur rally, according to some, had more people than the BNP's Sylhet rally though it was not any divisional or district level rally, he added.
But, he said, it was seen that some media published the picture of only the stage of Gazipur rally while they published the picture of the gathering of BNP's rally. "Of course, the BNP rally will be publicized in the newspapers. But whether this kind of presentation is appropriate or not is a question for you," said Hasan, also Awami League joint general secretary.
He said, in this perspective, it is now a big question whether there is any investment by the opposition party, or whether there is any financing of the militants from home and abroad for the opposition party. It is not appropriate to do yellow journalism or politics in the name of journalism, he added.
The minister said many times it is seen that the report, the picture given by the journalists in the media house gets changed after going to the editing panel. It is needed to take care of these issues, he added.
Replying to another query over BNP's rally on December 10 at Naya Paltan in the city, Hasan said Purbachal is the suitable place for the kind of mass rally that BNP wants to hold. Besides, many are telling about the other places like Mirpur and Buriganga River bank, he added.
He said the government is providing all out assistance to BNP to hold their rallies without any hassles. Members of law enforcement agencies were deployed in every circle in Sylhet city so that they (BNP) can hold their rally peacefully, he added.
On the other hand, police had charged baton and fired tear gas canisters and BNP used to throw bombs in the Awami League's rallies. This is the difference between Awami League and BNP, Hasan said.
He said the government doesn't want to control any rally. But the government would take steps if anyone tries to create anarchy in the name of rally, he added.
Earlier, BNP had created an unstable situation, torched busses, trucks, vandalized public properties and killed people in the name of rally, Hasan continued.
He said the Pakistani occupation forces had surrendered on December 16. The countrymen will compel them to surrender like the Pakistanis if the pro-Pakistani BNP men, including Mirza Fakhrul, try to create chaos in Dhaka on December 10 in the month of victory, said Hasan.
Source: BSS