Read joint statement before saying Bangladesh is being sold off: Humaiun tells Jamaat over PM’s Japan visit

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Humaiun Kobir today (October 30) urged Jamaat-e-Islami to read the joint statement issued after Prime Minister Tarique Rahman’s Japan visit before claiming the trip had compromised Bangladesh’s national interests or amounted to “selling off the country”.

“One would expect responsible behaviour and responsible communication from them. I would first say that you read the joint communiqué [joint statement],” he told reporters at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, reports UNB.

The state minister was responding to a question about remarks made by Opposition Leader and Jamaat Ameer Shafiqur Rahman yesterday, in which he raised concerns over the Matarbari deep-sea port and called on the government to safeguard Bangladesh’s national interests, security and territorial sovereignty.

“If you read it [joint statement], you will see for yourself that there is nothing of the sort [in it]. To claim – without having seen, understood or read it – that the country is being sold off, or that such a thing is about to happen… well, that simply says something else,” Kobir said.

“So, I would say, please read the joint statement – the joint communiqué – that has come out, and you will find your answer there,” he added.

In a post on his verified Facebook account yesterday, Shafiqur said no initiative or decision concerning the Matarbari deep-sea port that compromised national interests, security or territorial sovereignty would be acceptable.

He also said the public would not accept such a move and that the government must make clear to people what was happening in this regard.

“In the past, too, various concessions – such as transit and corridors – were granted under the pretext of serving Bangladesh’s interests; yet, in reality, the country has reaped no benefits from them,” Shafiqur said.

He added that Bangladesh’s sovereignty, security and national interests must take priority, whether the matter involved Japan, China or any other friendly country.

“It is the responsibility of the Bangladesh government to safeguard the nation’s interests and security. The public in no way wants to see any failure or tendency towards compromise on the part of the government in this matter,” he said.

The remarks came after Prime Minister Tarique Rahman returned home from his four-day official visit to Japan early today. A Biman Bangladesh Airlines flight carrying the prime minister, his wife Dr Zubaida Rahman and members of his entourage landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at 2:48am.