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The Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) has voiced strong concern and criticised the remarks made by Road Transport and Bridges Minister Sheikh Rabiul Alam, alleging he has attempted to legitimise extortion in the transport sector by describing certain roadside toll collections as consensual transactions.
In a statement issued on Friday, TIB Executive Director Dr Iftekharuzzaman said the minister's definition of extortion stood in stark contradiction to the strong anti-corruption commitments repeatedly declared by members of the cabinet after assuming office.
If the government's repeated promises to curb corruption were genuine and not merely rhetorical, then the minister's statement must be rejected at the highest level, and he should be held accountable through due process, said the TIB official.
The controversy arose from comments the minister made on Thursday while speaking to journalists at the secretariat.
He argued that money collected from transport operators on the roads through mutual understanding should not automatically be labelled extortion.
According to him, such collections - often carried out by owners' and workers' associations - are based on unwritten rules and are intended for welfare purposes.
He maintained that it should only be considered extortion if someone was forced to pay against their will.
The remarks, however, came less than 48 hours after the ruling party's election manifesto and the prime minister's address to the nation, both of which pledged firm action to prevent and control corruption.
The TIB described the transport minister's comments as deeply disappointing, saying they undermined the government's stated anti-corruption stance and diminished the commitments outlined in the party's manifesto.
Dr Iftekharuzzaman criticised what he called a positive interpretation of an entrenched extortion culture within the road transport sector.
He claimed that the minister's position amounted to an attempt to legitimise collusive and immoral practices under the guise of welfare.
According to the TIB, the direct victims of such practices are transport workers, professionals, and ordinary citizens, who ultimately bear the financial burden both directly and indirectly.
It further said invoking the welfare of owners and workers as justification was misleading and potentially a deliberate attempt to shield a long-standing system marked by disorder and irregularities.
The TIB also warned that the issue was not isolated.
Referring to what it described as a surge in multidimensional extortion, factionalism, and unlawful occupation across the country following the fall of authoritarian rule, the anti-corruption watchdog said the minister's stance risked reinforcing a broader culture of impunity rather than dismantling it.
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