BNP seeks food minister’s resignation

The BNP has demanded the resignation of Food Minister Qamrul Islam for importing ‘rotten wheat’ from Brazil.

Party spokesperson Asaduzzaman Ripon blamed the minister for the imports at a press briefing in Dhaka on Tuesday.
 
“We think Food Minister Qamrul Islam is the mastermind of the wheat scandal,” he said.
 
“Mr Qamrul Islam should resign without delay if he has an iota of shame.”
 
He also demanded an explanation from the government regarding whose interest was being served by importing rotten Brazilian wheat.

Recently, the food ministry imported 200,000 metric tonnes of wheat from Brazil.

Media reports described the grain as being of poor quality and unsafe for human consumption.

The reports even claimed that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had expressed her resentment after police and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) refused to accept the wheat for their members’ ration.

At the press briefing held at the party’s Naya Paltan headquarters, the BNP’s International Affairs Secretary Ripon questioned the outcome of a government enquiry into the matter.

“Qamrul Islam ordered the so-called probe because of people’s pressure while continuing in office. This influenced the probe,” he said.

“The enquiry was not impartial.”

Referring to the test results, Ripon said wheat samples from only 31 stores had been tested.

Samples from eight of them yielded very damaging results, he said.

He doubted if the samples of the other 23 stores were actually of the imported Brazilian wheat.

“If that was so, they should have shown the same result,” he said.

Ripon cited food department chief’s comment that the wheat was being distributed under various government projects after police rejected it.

“The wheat that police refused to consume is now being distributed among poor people. This is highly regrettable,” he said.

“Aren’t the poor the citizens of the country? Shouldn’t we be concerned about their health?” he asked.

“Is this government only for the rich?”

He also praised the police force for showing the courage to refuse the rotten wheat.

At the briefing, Ripon also criticised the government for not releasing detained BNP leaders even after they got bail.