Official loses post after likening PM’s slogan to hadith

The government has placed Mohammad Mashiur Rahman, executive director of the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA), under the Ministry of Public Administration amid debate and criticism over his remarks about the prime minister’s political slogan.

The ministry’s Senior Appointment-1 branch issued a notification on Tuesday (3 November). Signed by Deputy Secretary Jeti Pru by order of the president, it said the decision would take immediate effect.

The secretary-ranking official spoke on 1 November at the launch of a trial bus service on six roads in the capital under the ‘One Route, One Company’ programme.

He described the prime minister’s slogan, ‘We will work, we will build the country, Bangladesh before all’, as a reflection of an eternal truth. Mashiur Rahman also commented that if a religious figure had said the same thing, it would have been regarded as ‘hadith’.

During his speech, he also said people might think he was praising the prime minister with a possible transfer in mind.

His remarks drew criticism after a video of the speech spread on social media. The notification placing him under the Ministry of Public Administration followed amid that criticism. However, the details of the notification provided did not state a reason for the decision.