Dhaka–Chattogram Long March Will Cause Loss of Crores of Taka to the State: Rashed Khan

PNN News Desk, Dhaka

Rashed Khan, Political Assistant to the Prime Minister (with the rank of secretary), has said the Dhaka–Chattogram Long March organised by the 11-party alliance led by Jamaat-e-Islami will cause financial losses amounting to crores of taka to the state.

He made the remarks in a post published on his verified Facebook account on Saturday (September 5).

Rashed Khan claimed that apart from Jamaat-e-Islami activists, there was little interest or participation among ordinary people in the long march called by Jamaat. He also commented that opposition leaders were becoming disappointed over the programme.

He further claimed that despite extensive publicity and domestic and foreign investment surrounding the programme, the Jamaat-led alliance had failed to attract ordinary people.

In his Facebook post, he mentioned that the alliance currently consists of nine parties, as two parties had left the alliance.

Criticising the opposition’s statements regarding the country’s electricity, fuel and gas situation, Rashed Khan said ordinary people were well aware of the national and international crises surrounding these issues.

According to him, it was not reasonable to attempt to place the responsibility for problems, crises and mismanagement spanning 18 to 20 years on a government that had been in office for only six months.

Rashed Khan claimed that the government was making its utmost efforts to implement the July National Charter that it had signed. He also said there was little public interest in the six-point demands of the opposition.

Claiming that traffic movement on the roads had been disrupted because of the long march, he said the closure of roads was increasing the suffering of ordinary people.

At the same time, he expressed concern that the use of a large amount of fuel for the programme could further intensify the ongoing fuel crisis. He claimed that approximately 100,000 litres of fuel were being wasted in connection with the programme.

Rashed Khan said the Dhaka–Chattogram Highway is one of the country’s most important transportation routes and that a large number of passenger and goods vehicles use the highway every day.

He said the long march was disrupting the movement of these vehicles, resulting in economic losses as well as public suffering.

Former General Secretary of the Gono Odhikar Parishad Rashed Khan alleged that Jamaat had imposed a programme such as the long march on ordinary people in pursuit of partisan interests and on the basis of falsehood and deception.

He reiterated that the programme would cause losses amounting to crores of taka to the state.