Information and Broadcasting Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud on Saturday said BNP and their leaders are doing anti-state activities and hatching conspiracies against the country.
He said BNP as a political party could criticize the government's activities but they could not do the treasonous and anti-national activities by sending letters against the country abroad, to hire lobbyist farms for tarnishing the country's reputation and destroying its trade and export.
Terming appointment of lobbyist farms as a conspiracy against the country, Hasan said the government might carry out an investigation to find out where the illegal money went from the country and who took it.
`Action will be taken after the investigation. Bangabandhu’s daughter Prime Minister also said this matter in his speech in Parliament recently’, Hasan said.
Hasan was speaking as the chief guest at a view-exchanging meeting with the journalists after inaugurating Bangabandhu Corner at Bangladesh Television, Chattogram Center on Saturday noon.
MA Malek, Editor of Daily Azadi, Netai Kumar Bhattacharya, former General Manager of BTV Chattogram Center, and newly appointed General Manager Mahfuza Akter, among others, attended the function.
Hasan said there was no need for BNP to send letters to foreigners if they have confidence on country’s people.
Mentioning, that people of the country are the owner of the state, Hasan said the people will decide who will go to power and who will leave the power.
He said that BNP leaders and its secretary general were carrying out propaganda against the country by appointing lobbyists, to destroy the country’s reputation and to obstruct the country's trade and export.
`In no way the activities of Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir to send letters to various departments of the US Congress signed by himself is desirable’, he added.
The Information and Broadcasting Minister said that BNP has appointed lobbyists at different times and by appointing lobbyists they have tried to stop the trial of war criminals.
`They have hired FBI agents to assassinate the prime minister's worthy son and her ICT adviser Sajib Wazed Joy. That FBI agent has now to face trial’, Hasan said.
He said that Begum Khaleda Zia had written an article in the Washington Times a few years ago to stop the GSP facility of Bangladesh in this way.
Showing these documents from his i-Pad to the journalists, Hasan said they have documents in support of BNP’s hiring of lobbyists in different times and the reports with documents have also been published in the different media.
The minister said BNP spoke against the government once in the morning, once in the afternoon and once in the evening. But they carried out propaganda saying that the country lacked freedom of expression, he commented.
`We have ensured the freedom of the media. The level of freedom enjoyed by the media in our country is not found in many developing countries’, he said.
`Because we believe that freedom of expression and freedom of the media are essential for a democratic and multidimensional society’, he added.
He said that free flow of information is needed for a multi-dimensional social system.
`Prime Minister Bangabandhu's daughter Sheikh Hasina had approved private television for this. These private channels are operating very independently in Bangladesh’, he added.
Terming the BTV’s Chattogram centre as a national level media, the information minister said that it can be seen in seventy percent parts of the country through terrestrial connections although it is located in Chattogram.
People all over the country and the world can see it through apps connection, he said.
He said that another channel would be launched under BTV on educational and agricultural programs very soon.
`Besides, the project of launching new BTV centers in the divisional headquarters of the country is underway’, he added.
Saying that a new project has been taken for Chattogram center at a cost of Tk 50 crore, the information minister added that there will be a new studio, auditorium and a new building under the project.
As a result, it will be possible to create and broadcast more quality programs from this center, he added.
