PM slams civil society again; terms them ‘dustbin of politics’

The prime minister has once again come down heavily on the civil society terming them the 'dustbin of politics and power'.

On Wednesday, Sheikh Hasina in the parliament said, "There're some people who're always ready to sell themselves to evil forces like dustbin beside roads where it's written 'use me'. They're also like that [trash bin] who hang up on their chests 'use me' for politics and power."

She had her outburst while responding to a supplementary question from ruling party lawmaker Fazilatun Nesa Bappy in Jatiya Sangsad during her question-answer session.

The PM said this section of the people are always found ready when there will be a state of emergency in the country or when someone will come to grab the state power through martial law.

According to her, "If it happens so, they'll get attention, they'll get the flag [national flag to fly in car] and they'll be in power."

She said if anyone believes in democracy then one should go to the people and participate in the election."They've to come to power through election. There's a section of people who never want to go to people. They always look for other means to be there in power."

UNB said Sheikh Hasina also raised question about the meaning and explanation of the term 'civil society'.

"Based on which theory they are civil! This question comes up when they don't see anything even after seeing, don't hear anything even after hearing and don't want to understand anything. I don't know whether they're civil or uncivil," she said.

According to her, Bangladesh is marching ahead with accelerated development activities and the whole world is recognising this. "But this is very much unfortunate that some people of the country don't see this development. They're blind despite having eyes; they're deaf despite having ears."

The PM also said none can make them understand this development of the country. "This is one kind of sickness because their eyes are on illegal ways to grab power," she told the parliament.

The Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) recently said the banking sector of the country has become a "growing malignancy" for the economy due to rising bad loans and lack of governance.

CPD also mentioned that the gap between the rich and the poor has widened despite continued economic growth in the country.