Remove errant ministers as Eid gift

The National Human Rights Commission chairman, Mizanur Rahman, urged the prime minister, Sheikh Hasina, to remove inefficient ministers from the cabinet.

‘It [removing the ministers] will be the most precious Eid gift of the prime minister to the people of the country,’ Mizan told a roundtable at the Dhaka Reporters Unity.

Speaking at the discussion on ‘Democracy and Rule of Law: Bangladesh Context’ organised by the Bangabandhu Education and Research Council, he lambasted the shipping minister for his recent comments on issuing driving licences as sheer violation of the rule of law. Mizan’s call came in the backdrop of demands raised recently by different quarters, even by the ruling alliance lawmakers in parliament, for resignation of a number of ministers.

Ruling alliance lawmakers in last week demanded the resignation of communication minister Abul Hossain for his failure to ensure road safety and traffic-worthy roads and highways that caused stoppage of bus service on a number of routes.

The lawmakers, while speaking in parliament, also demanded the resignation of shipping minister Shahjahan Khan for his comment on driving licences. He said people who could recognise cows, goats, and traffic signals should be provided with driving licence without any test.

Different quarters have also been demanding the resignation of finance minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhith for the sorry state of the country’s capital market.

Taking part in the roundtable, Mizan also demanded putting an immediate end to extrajudicial killings by law-enforcers in the name of crossfire or armed encounters.

Extrajudicial killing is a major obstacle to instituting the rule of law and furtherance of democracy, he said.

State minister for law Quamrul Islam, former Supreme Court judge Golam Rabbani, Dhaka University vice-chancellor AAMS Arefin Siddique, Dhaka University law faculty member Rahmatullah, Supreme Court lawyers Abdul Baset Majumder and Yusuf Hossain Humayun, and journalists Habibur Rahman Milon and Abul Kasem Majumdar, among others, took part in the roundtable.