When a minister condones a criminal

Political parties go to the people for votes. They need to have a people-friendly image of honesty and integrity. They must stand against crime, corruption and violence. But in our country, the propensity is quite the opposite. The leaders of the ruling party and its affiliated bodies are particularly prone to patronising the harmful and dubious elements within the organisations. This is most unfortunate for the nation and is unacceptable. We strongly oppose this tendency.

We feel it was most inappropriate that the shipping minister Shahjahan Khan and his cronies, on Thursday afternoon, attended a lunch in Bogra hosted by Matin Sarkar. Matin Sarkar is known to be a criminal, an extortionist, a drug dealer and even involved in murder. He faces nine cases including four for murder. He has been identified by RAB as a drug dealer. He was sentenced to 27 years’ imprisonment for drug dealing, though the sentence has been held up in court. He has been expelled from the Bogra town unit of Jubo League.

Matin Sarkar is the elder brother of Tufan Sarkar, yet another notorious criminal, extortionist and rapist of Bogra. Tufan Sarkar is the expelled leader of Bogra Sramik League. Last year he was accused of raping a college girl and then shaving the heads of the girl and her mother. He would carry out his crimes under the shelter of his brother Matin Sarkar. Their reign of crime had tarnished the image of Awami League and the government in Bogra.

Matin Sarkar and Tufan Sarkar do not just tarnish the image of the political party or organisation. They are harmful for the political culture as a whole. Such persons should not be accommodated by political parties. But the shipping minister and his associates, accepting the hospitality of Matin Sarkar, gives out quite a different message. Matin Sarkar still remains the general secretary of Bogra district truck owners association as well as the tannery traders association. He should be expelled from these bodies, just as he was expelled from Jubo League.