We want BNP to stand straight: Foreign minister

Foreign minister and Awami League joint general secretary Hasan Mahmud has said BNP needs to straighten up now that the election is over.

“After the election, the BNP’s posture crumbled. We want them to overcome their disappointment and stand straight,” he said.

The minister made the remarks while talking to newspersons after unveiling the covers of journalist and researcher Mizanur Rahman’s ‘Badale jawa Bangladesh’ and poet Rebecca Shilpi’s fourth poetry book ‘Bimurto’ on the Suhrawardy Udyan premises of the Amar Ekushey Boi Mela (book fair) on Tuesday.

Publisher of the two books Shafique Rahman and other guests were present on the occasion.

“We hope that BNP will engage in distributing leaflets and follow democratic procedures to overcome their disappointment. They will not succeed in manipulating public opinion with petrol bombs,” said the minister.

Before the book unveiling, Hasan Mahmud remarked, “The Ekushey Boi Mela has become a festival of life, transforming into a meeting place for Bengalis. Young and old, children and adolescents, youth, adults, and the elderly all come to the fair to take a breath, turn the pages of books, and buy books. Our goal is to build a humane, socially responsible state, and we must work united towards that goal.”

Describing the transformation of Bangladesh under the leadership of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the foreign minister mentioned the significant differences between Bangladesh 15 years ago and today.

He also emphasised that there would be many differences in Bangladesh in the next 10 years. “From the Padma Bridge to the air conditioned metrorail, development through the riverine country and the tunnel under the river, under the leadership of Bangabandhu’s Daughter, we have progressed relentlessly at an unstoppable pace.”