Dhaka/

Awami League General Secretary, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader commented that the government has not yielded to any pressure and will not do so.

He said this in response to journalists’ questions after the opening ceremony of the Road Safety Project at the Bangabandhu International Conference Center on Wednesday (June 14) morning.

Regarding the foreign pressure on the release of BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia, Obaidul Quader said that Bangladesh has not interfered in the internal affairs of any country. I don’t think it is reasonable for other countries to interfere in the internal affairs of Bangladesh. The issue of Khaleda Zia is our internal matter.

Awami League general secretary said that they have practiced politics more than they have worried about Begum Zia’s illness. When Khaleda Zia’s trial was going on, Hetuk sought to delay the trial by being absent unnecessarily. Couldn’t do any legal fight, movement that could create pressure.

The Minister of Road Transport and Bridges said about the democracy of the United States, what happened there in the name of democracy on January 6? Six lives were lost. Donald Trump has not yet accepted defeat in the election.

Everyone talks about democracy, but it is difficult to find the institutional form of democracy in reality. There are some errors. I am not saying that democracy is completely free of defects. Trying to debug. The Election Commission has been made independent by law.

Urging BNP to participate in the elections, Obaidul Quader said that you have to come to the elections to prove how popular you are.

Meanwhile, Obaidul Quader also said that Awami League has kept Begum Zia in jail, removed the supervisor – both allegations of BNP are false. Mirza Fakhrul himself failed. First of all, BNP leadership needs to resign from top to bottom. They could not make any visible movement. There is no practice of democracy inside BNP, how to bring democracy to the country.

Awami League general secretary said about Jamaat Islam, the matter is in the high court. The final verdict has not come. Government cannot intervene directly. There is a demand to ban Jamaat-e-Islami as a party. The Election Commission has canceled the party’s registration.

At this time, in response to the questions of the journalists about the letter of the Human Rights Commission to the United Nations, the Bridge Minister asked, “Are we following the words and prescriptions of the United Nations Human Rights Commission?”

Earlier, in his speech at the road safety event, the Road Transport and Bridges Minister said that the World Bank could have undertaken the Padma Bridge project if it wanted. There is a misunderstanding here. There was a conspiracy. Some people were involved in this.

Expressing his discomfort with road accidents, Obaidul Quader said that even after so much development, we cannot avoid road accidents – this is the question today.

Earlier, Additional Chief Engineer of Roads and Highways Department Abdullah Al Mamun gave an opening speech at the beginning of the program on road safety in Bangladesh. Later, the panel discussed road safety by Additional IGP Crime and Operations Atiqul Islam, BRTA Chairman Noor Mohammad Majumdar, World Bank Road Safety Project Senior Transport Specialist Dipan Bose.

In addition, under the chairmanship of Roads and Highways Department Secretary ABM Amin Ullah Noori, Economic Relations Department Secretary Sharifa Khan, World Bank South Asia Region Transport Practice Manager Fei Deng, Bangladesh and India Country Director Abdulai Sek, World Bank Infrastructure Vice President Guanze Chen spoke on the occasion.

The cost of the project is estimated to be around 5000 crores with the joint financing of the World Bank and the Government of Bangladesh.