Hasnat apologises over B'baria incident

Hasnat Abdullah apologised on Saturday for what he described as a misunderstanding with the people of Brahmanbaria. He issued the apology in a post on his verified Facebook page.

In the post, Hasnat said he regretted that his remarks in Parliament, in which he sought accountability from the home minister over the deteriorating law and order situation, had created a misunderstanding with the  Brahmanbaria people.

He said the home minister had recently claimed that music, cultural programmes and cinema were 'almost prohibited' in Brahmanbaria. 

According to Hasnat, the minister had effectively shifted responsibility for the failure of his ministry onto the people of Brahmanbaria and the district’s religious scholars, damaging their image internationally.

Addressing the controversy over a police concert in Brahmanbaria, Hasnat said the incident had been portrayed differently in the media from what actually happened.

He said the concert was being held late night at a high volume, disrupting the studies of madrasa students who were preparing for examinations. The students asked for the sound to be reduced, he said, and a subsequent argument between police and students led to the incident in which several students were allegedly beaten with batons.

''Although the media presented it differently, the sequence of events makes it clear that the madrasa students did not stop the concert. They only asked for the volume to be reduced,'' Hasnat wrote.

He argued that this did not mean cultural activities were prohibited in Brahmanbaria, as suggested by the home minister, and said the minister’s remarks had sent a misleading message about the district’s people and undermined them.

Hasnat also acknowledged a factual error regarding a boat race. He said he had mistakenly referred to Brahmanbaria instead of Sylhet when discussing the location.