“Our government has made mistakes but has largely fulfilled its responsibilities,” claimed Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed Joy on Saturday.
“You need to vote Awami League to power to maintain the uninterrupted flow of development,” he reminded voters, as he interacted with a group of university students at a Gulshan restaurant.
From politics to personal life, much came up for discussion as the eager students quizzed the IT specialist who has belatedly become politically hyperactive.
“No civil society can tolerate murders like Biswajit or the maiming of Limon,” said Joy in response to a student’s query on human rights. “We have not tolerated these brutalities. The killers of Biswajit have been brought to justice, regardless which party they supported or which family they hailed from.”
Joy said it was not possible to ‘get everything right’ in a country of 150 million people. “But the government has done its job by and large by maintaining law and order and bringing law-breakers to the dock.”
He reminded the students of the flagrant human rights violations in times of BNP government, of brazen political murders and patronage to violent radicals.
“We need to see where we were and where we are now, and whether we have moved ahead and whether the situation has improved or not,” he said.
“Please recall the number of murders perpetrated by the Chhatra Dal (BNP’s student front) ten years ago and how many of them were brought to justice,” Joy said, but stressing that “Bangladesh cannot become an US in five years”.
But Joy kept stressing he was an IT specialist and not a ‘career politician’, perhaps to signal he was not yet ready for the plunge.
On his vision of Bangladesh, Joy said he saw Bangladesh emerging as a middle income country by 2021. A country sans poverty.
“But if we could push up our GDP growth to above 8 percent, which is possible, we will go beyond a middle income country. We will be counted as a developed nation and believe me it is not impossible,” Joy said, reminding the students this was possible within their lifetime.
From politics to personal, which is where he appeared more flustered.
“I am married for ten years and can’t remember affairs before that,” was how he sought to allay speculations about his personal life.
“I never had many girl friends,” Joy said, fumbling mildly.
“I love riding motorbikes but I am not a foodie” he said.
“I inherited my father’s scientific temper but have always been close to my mother. Father would spend most of the time in office.”
On formalin, he said no study has been made on its impact on health in Bangladesh, but reminded all that the government has started a drive to crack down on those using it.
Source: bdnews24
