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Published : 19 Aug 2022, 09:12 PM
General Secretary Obaidul Quader has said the Awami League never requested India to help it to stay in power in the wake of the maelstrom of criticism surrounding the foreign minister's remarks.
Nor did the party task any government or party functionary with making the request to India, he clarified.
“The people of Bangladesh are the source of our power. No one from outside will be able to keep us in power,” said the ruling party's number two on Friday after his cabinet colleague AK Abdul Momen said he had requested India to “do everything to keep the party in power”.
Quader said if Momen indeed said anything along that line during his recent India trip, it was his personal remarks and not the government's official position.
“Please don’t destroy the friendly ties [between India and Bangladesh] by talking unnecessarily,” he said.
In response to criticism for his denial of hate attacks targeting Hindus, Foreign Minister Momen said at a Janmashtami event in Chattogram on Thursday: “I went to India and said Sheikh Hasina must stay [in power]. Only then will the country make progress and become a truly non-sectarian country. I asked them to do everything to make that happen.”
The next day, at a Janmashtami event in Dhaka, Quader faced questions from reporters about Momen’s remarks and was quick to distance the party from Momen's remarks.
“India is our friend. We don’t want enmity with India. We suffered the most because of hostility towards India after [Bangabandhu’s assassination in ] 1975. After the Sheikh Hasina and Narendra Modi governments took over, the wall of distrust was broken,” said Quader.
“As a minister of the Sheikh Hasina government, this is what I want to say: India is our friend and we are bound by the bloodshed in 1971.”
“But this doesn’t mean we will request them [India] to stay in power. The Awami League never makes such requests,” said Quader, who is also the road transport and bridges minister of the government.
“And no one of the Sheikh Hasina government has been given this duty [to convey such a request]. The source of our power is the public support. No one from the outside can keep us in power. The Awami League has stayed in power with the people’s support and it will continue to do so.”
Quader recently had publicly rebuked Momen and other Awami League leaders for 'flaunting' power and urged them to conduct themselves judiciously amid the ongoing economic crisis.
His warning came after Momen made a gaffe by saying that the people in Bangladesh are “living a life as if in heaven”, compared to the rest of the world hit by the economic crisis.
He later said he would be careful while speaking, but blamed the media for “twisting” his remarks.
