Transparency Inter-national Bangladesh (TIB) has issued a strongly worded statement expressing "deep concern and condemnation" over remarks by the Road Transport Minister, who characterised road extortion as a compromise-based transaction.
TIB alleged that such comments attempt to legitimise a serious criminal offence and undermine the government's declared anti-corruption stance. The organisation also urged the Prime Minister to give "top priority to party purification" to prevent what it described as corruption-promoting initiatives. In a statement released on Friday, TIB Executive Director Iftekharuzzaman said, "The definition of extortion that the Transport Minister has put forward is completely contrary to the strong anti-corruption position that almost every member of the Cabinet, including him, announced after assuming office."
He noted that less than 48 hours after the ruling party's election manifesto and the Prime Minister's national address pledging effective corruption control, "the minister's comments seeking to protect extortion-the cancer of the transport sector-are very disappointing." He added that the remarks appeared to undermine both the party's electoral commitments and the government's stated anti-corruption position.
Iftekharuzzaman further alleged that the minister's interpretation amounted to support for the prevailing extortion culture in the road transport sector. "It is clear that he is trying to legitimise an immoral and collusive practice like extortion," he said, arguing that transport workers and ordinary citizens are the primary victims, as they ultimately bear the financial burden.
He also warned that invoking employer and worker welfare as justification for such practices is "misleading" and risks perpetuating a long-standing, disorderly system in the sector.
Raising broader governance concerns, he questioned: "If extortion on the roads is accepted in the name of compromise, how will the consistent application of the same theory be prevented in other sectors, including the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority, health, education, social security, law enforcement, justice, passport services, land administration, government procurement, development projects, banking and electricity?"
He argued that if the government's anti-corruption commitments are not merely rhetorical, "the statement of the Transport Minister must be rejected immediately at the highest level, and the minister must be held accountable through due process."
The TIB chief also placed the issue in a wider political context, saying, "After the fall of authoritarianism, there has been a surge of multidimensional extortion, factionalism and unlawful occupation across the country." He added that the minister's remarks were "not an isolated issue."
Recalling a similar controversy in February 2012, when a road minister of a previous administration allegedly attempted to justify extortion on comparable grounds, he said TIB had then "strongly protested and condemned" the move. He expressed concern that the current government might be following a similar path.
Addressing the Prime Minister directly, he said: "To maintain the trust and expectations the people have placed in you, give top priority to party purification and reform to prevent a section of leaders and activists from taking a self-destructive path. Otherwise, public confidence will be eroded."
He concluded, "Prime Minister, it is time to set the right priorities."
