Sundarbans oil tanker capsize ‘premeditated’: BNP

BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir addresses a media briefing at the party’s central headquarters at Nayapaltan in Dhaka Saturday. Photo: TV grab

Terming oil tanker capsize in Shela River “pre-planned”, BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir today said the Sundarbans is being destroyed in a planned way.

“Questions have been raised from different quarters including environmental scientists over the oil tanker capsize near Sundarbans. They suspect that the incident was a part of conspiracy to destroy the world’s largest mangrove forest,” Fakhrul said.

“We demand impartial investigation into the matter, arrest of the culprits and their punishment immediately,” the BNP spokesman was talking to reporters at a press briefing at the party's Nayapaltan central office in Dhaka.

Criticising the government for its decision to set up the Rampal Power Plant close to the Sundarbans, Fakhrul said the thermal plant, if constructed, will left an adverse impact on the mangrove forest.

“The government is destroying our heritage like the Sundarbans on its whim,” he claimed.

He also criticised the government for their attempt to import duty free rice from India despite the bumper production of aman in the country during the current session.

“On one hand, the government is going to export rice to Sir Lanka and on the other hand it is planning to import rice from India,” he said.
The government is taking such decision to make profits ignoring our farmers’ interest,” he alleged.