Dhaka University professor Abul Barkat has called Finance Minister AMA Muhith a retard in a workshop for persons with disabilities.
Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu was present when he launched the disparaging attack on the octogenarian politician in Dhaka on Wednesday.
“Our budgets are not friendly towards disabled people. It does not allocate funds these helpless people need. The finance minister is himself a retard.”
The information minister was invited as the chief guest.
The economics teacher, who was denied extension of his service as state-owned Janata Bank Limited chairman, had come down heavily on the finance minister in another recent event.
Barkat called people with disabilities an integral part of society and urged ‘big corporate houses’ and the media to stand by them for their development.
An NGO, Leonard Cheshire Disability Bangladesh (LCDB), organised the workshop, titled ‘Employment of Persons with Disabilities and Role of Media and Corporate Sector’.
Work for specialised education: Inu
The information minister described persons with disability as assets and said ‘society will prosper’ if equal opportunities for them could be ensured.
He urged the media and corporate houses to work for creating an environment by ensuring specialised education, proper training, employment and accessibility for them so that they could ‘contribute properly to society’.
Inu called for social initiatives to extend financial support to them and said Sheikh Hasina’s government had enacted a law for their welfare.
Source: Bd news24
