Govt keeping media busy with dramas to hide failures: BNP

BNP on Thursday alleged that the government is keeping the media busy staging various dramas in the name of recovery of liquors and drugs only to hide its failure to tackle the Covid satiation.

“They (govt) are staging many dramas and our journalists and television channels and social media are busy with those. As if the recovery of liquor and Yaba pills from people’s houses is now the major news amid the pandemic,” said BNP standing committee member Iaqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku.

He said, “The infections and fatalities caused by corona have spiked in the country. Many people are dying every day. So, they’re trying to divert attention by bringing the recovery of liquor bottles, Yaba pills and LSD and other drugs in the limelight.”

Tuku came up with the remarks while virtually inaugurating BNP’s Covid-19 help centre in Thakurgaon district as the chief guest. BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir also joined the programme.

Fakhrul only thanked the leaders of his electoral areas instead of making any political statement.

Tuku, the convener of BNP’s coronavirus monitoring cell, said some people have long been indulging in anti-social activities without any resistance. “Why have they not been able to detect these people for so long? Why’re these things coming to the fore sight at this time of corona crisis?”

On Wednesday, Rapid Action Battalion members detained actress Pori Moni and film producer and actor Nazrul Islam Raz in separate raids on their flats in the capital. The elite force also recovered huge liquor bottles and drugs from the two houses.

Meanwhile, police arrested two models Faria Mahbub Piasha and Mou Akter from their houses on August 2 with liquor, Yaba, and shisha.

About Covid situation, Tuku said the Awami League government has completely failed to tackle the Covid situation and ensure proper treatment for people.

“People are now facing serious difficulties in receiving treatment in the overwhelmed hospitals across the country. “Patients are sent to Dhaka from rural areas as hospitals in districts are packed. There’re inadequate oxygen cylinders in districts hospitals,” he observed.

Under such a situation, the BNP leader said, their party leaders and activists are standing beside people by opening Covid-19 help centres in every district across the country.