Awami League imported dengue into Bangladesh, says BNP’s Rizvi

The Awami League brought the deadly dengue fever into Bangladesh in 1997, BNP Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi has said, adding the Aedes mosquito began spreading in the country since then.

He also lamented the government’s failure to take any ‘effective initiative to prevent dengue’ during a media briefing in the capital on Sunday.

“You’ll always hear the ruling party talk about development or initiatives. But in reality, no-one has taken any initiative. Just look at the roads clogged by traffic congestion and tell me where do you find peace? There is no peace anywhere,” said Rizvi.

“This fatal disease – dengue – has been imported into the country by the Awami League in 1997. Aedes mosquitoes have spread in the country since then. The directorate of health or public health authority hasn’t done anything to prevent it.”

Talk of initiatives by the two city corporations to prevent the spread of dengue is hollow, he said, adding, “There isn’t any preventive measure in place nor do we have the antidote needed to save people,” said Rizvi.

“As the country is riddled with corruption, Iqbal Mahmud, the chief of Anti-corruption Commission, that has become a ‘sanctuary for corrupt government high-ups’ encouraged them to opt for corruption, saying it wouldn’t be a crime if corrupt practices were conducted with honest intentions,” said Ruhul Kabir Rizvi.

“We believe that the country will be buried under corruption if the person responsible for purging it by showing ‘zero tolerance’ preaches the novel idea of ‘honest corruption.’