এডিটর’স মাইন্ড

Money is no problem


প্রকাশ: 19/11/2022


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Sunday morning. I was going to office from home. The traffic was really bad as it was the first working day of the week. In the meantime, I was doing some office work in the car. Suddenly a friend of mine called. He said, "Have you heard the news? There is no money in any bank. Eight banks are going bankrupt. I also have some money in the bank. What should I do now?" Just a little later a relative form Rangpur called and said, there is no money in the bank. I only have a little money in the bank. It is the savings of my life. What do I do now? While going to the office I received phone of a few others like this. Everyone is anxious, scared. One of my friends is the managing director of a private bank. I called him to find out what is actually happening. He laughed out loud. He said, "Brother, you also started believing in these Facebook rumors? A group is spreading this fake news. There is no liquidity crisis in any bank." I was reassured by his words. For a moment, it seemed like 1974. At that time, a reputed newspaper published a picture of Net Folded Basanti. It was said that Basanti had no clothes. To hide the shame, Basanti throws her body in the net. The news caused a stir at that time. To attack Bangabandhu's government, the Basanti drama was staged at that time. After August 15, 1975, many untrue, ugly and offensive words were spread in the name of Basanti in the field of politics. Sheikh Hasina returned home with the responsibility of Awami League on May 17, 1981. It was Sheikh Hasina who exposed the lies about Basanti. She herself went to Basanti's house. Basanti was a disabled person. That picture was fake. That picture of Basanti was made at that time to create a negative perception about the Awami League government. Basanti's picture is perhaps the best example in the history of unjournalism in Bangladesh. None of those who used Basanti to play this dirty game did anything for Basanti. Sheikh Hasina had built a house for Basanti. In 74 there were no social media like Facebook, YouTube etc. A picture in the newspaper destroyed a lot of Awami League. Now is the age of social media and these social media have become a rumor factory. The latest rumor is that there is no money in the bank. If you look at the social media now, it will seem that Bangladesh is probably on the verge of bankruptcy. The date of the fall of the government is also being given. The most terrible thing is that all such rumors are being spread, which are creating panic in the public mind. It is worth noting that the rumors are first spread through social media, then the opposition leaders are speaking about it and finally it is being presented in the mainstream media. You are being forced to believe false information.

Before spreading the rumor that there is no money in the bank, another rumor was spread that we have no money in our reserves. Bangladesh is on the verge of bankruptcy. 48 billion dollars was the highest reserve of Bangladesh. It was something we were proud of. But due to the corona epidemic and the global crisis, the reserve is decreasing. Not only Bangladesh, due to the global crisis reserves are decreasing in all the countries. A country is considered safe if it has enough foreign exchange reserves to cover three months of import expenses. It is possible to meet more than four months of import expenses with the net reserves that Bangladesh currently has. So there is no reason to panic about the reserve. According to the IMF, China has the largest foreign exchange reserves in the world. At the end of October, the country's reserves were 3052 billion dollars. But in July, the country's reserves were 4 thousand billion dollars. In just three months, China's reserves have decreased by about one thousand billion dollars. India is one of the top 10 countries in terms of foreign exchange reserves. India's reserves stood at $599 billion at the end of June. By the end of October, it had decreased to 520 billion dollars. Interestingly, the United States is known as the richest country in the world. But the United States is not among the first ten countries in terms of reserves. US reserves are 242 billion dollars. The World Bank has published a list of countries that are in crisis in terms of foreign exchange reserves. Quoting the report of the World Bank, a report of Reuters said - Sri Lanka is the most economically distressed country in the world. The country is now almost bankrupt. According to the Reuters report, Lebanon, Russia, Suriname and Zambia are defaulting countries along with Sri Lanka. More recently, Belarus has also entered the list of defaulters. The World Bank has also published a list of countries that are in severe economic crisis at this moment. The World Bank has also published a list of countries that are in severe economic crisis at this moment. The countries named in the list include Argentina, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Pakistan, Tunisia and Ukraine. Readers note that Bangladesh is not in this list. So why the desperate attempt to make Bangladesh bankrupt? A few days ago, the IMF delegation visited Bangladesh. It was during this visit that rumors were spread that the IMF was not giving loans to Bangladesh. Some politicians took advantage of this rumor that was planned through social media. After that, some of the leading media of the country rushed to the ground to institutionalize the rumours. An economist-turned-politician turned IMF spokesperson. He announced that 'Bangladesh is not getting loans.' When his statement was proven to be false, no media asked him 'how did you give such false information'. The thing is, if you keep lying against the government, you are the conscience of the nation, a brave man. And if you show the truth, you are an agent of the government. All of them are trying to make Bangladesh crippled, discolored and bankrupt. But why? In the capitalist world, it is said that the market and money are at the root of everything. It goes without saying that those who are constantly spreading misinformation against Bangladesh abroad are not doing this for nothing. They are being petted regularly with money. There is also lucrative money behind the planned rumors that are being spread now. Why is so much money being spent to hurt Bangladesh? The reason is very simple and clear. These rumors have been taken to the level of art to achieve political goals. The political goal is to oust the Awami League government from power. Elections are the only democratic way to remove a political party from power. That's why public opinion needs to be formed. The ruling party has to be defeated and removed from power by uniting the people in the vote. But now a different process has started to remove the government from power in Bangladesh. This process has several steps. The first step is to continue spreading false and baseless information against the government on social media. These propagandas must be made 'viral'. In the second phase, the anti-government political parties will campaign on the basis of those propaganda. Those rumors will be justified. In the third step, some of the mainstream media will spread the crisis, failure, etc. based on the statement of the opposition party. The fourth step is some civil servants who are restless with the greed for power, will talk about it regularly on talk shows and write columns. The fifth step is to go directly to the people and spread false information about everything. The sixth step is to create some artificial crisis. The seventh step is to put pressure on the government by spreading propaganda against donor countries, organizations and Western countries. If you can complete these seven steps, you’ll be successful. this is the politics of Bangladesh right now. The flow of events is visible up to the fourth step. But we are ignoring the events of the fifth step. A few days ago a man called me from Saudi Arabia. He often calls me after reading my writing. Advise me on many things. He told me that the people of BNP-Jamaat are holding meetings and talking to the expatriate brothers here. They are misleading these people who are determined to keep their families happy in the country by working hard.

 

He said that expatriates are being told that it is not safe to send money through banking channels. Your money will be lost. You give yout money to me, I will send the money through hundi. According to him, Saudi Arabia is now forced to send money through hundi. Sending money through hundi takes 10 minutes. After taking the money from the immigrant brother, that politician is calling his agent in Bangladesh to send the money to the family of the immigrant. That agent is then sending the money to the given address. To ensure that the family member receives the money, the worker at the other end says 'Alhamdulillah.' This is how the 'Hundi Mission' is running in the Middle East countries including Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Jordan. Money is coming in illegal cahnnels.

 

And what is happening in the country? BNP and Jamaat leaders are also behind the rumor that there is no money in the bank on Sunday and Monday. A well-known BNP leader in Dhaka wrote on his Facebook page, 'I went to withdraw five lakh taka from the bank. There is no money in the bank......' I saw such Facebook status of five BNP leaders. There are variations in wording and figures of money but the main point is the same. A BNP leader held a staff meeting at his house and said that everyone will go to the bank and withdraw whatever money they have. In this way, an attempt is being made to put the banking sector in a crisis. However, in this case, Bangladesh Bank's prompt action has to be appreciated. Bangladesh Bank did not allow the rumors to spread by reassuring the public through quick press releases and press conferences. If the government or Bangladesh Bank could take such steps with dollars, then the country's dollar situation would not have been so fragile. That day an economist was saying, "Dollar" has now become a business like the stock market. Many are buying dollars and keeping them at home in the hope of profit. Here too BNP-Jamaat's political cunning strategy. A lot of wealthy leaders and workers of these two parties have bought and stored dollars from the market. The economist was saying that the sale of dollars should be stopped without passports, foreign tickets and visas. How does a person buy dollars like rice, dal, ginger, salt? On the current trend, no matter how many dollars are released to stabilize the market, the crisis will not end. Now a united political force has been brought into the field. Their job is to create a crisis by buying dollars from the open market. It is also a profitable business for them. The question is, where are the BNP or Jamaat activists getting the money to buy so many dollars? To answer this question, it is necessary to examine the characteristics of BNP's general meetings in recent times. There is no doubt that the public meetings held by BNP in various cities are attended by a large number of people. The activists are joining there. Every rally is preceded by an unnecessary drama of transport strike. This is causing problems for the ruling party instead of benefit. BNP workers from different districts are coming to the city where the rally will be held two or three days before. I was watching an interview of some workers in the Faridpur rally on the digital platform of 'Bangladesh Pratidin'. The workers there say that they came to join the rally three days ago. Who is paying the cost of their meals? Obviously the party. On the previous day, a traditional picnic festival was held at the gathering place. We are witnessing the tempting scene of cooking Biriyani, Tehari, Khichuri. 10 to 15 crore of money are being spent on each rally. Where is BNP getting so much money? On July 28, BNP submitted their income and expenditure account to the Election Commission. There we saw that last year the income of the party was 84 lakh 12 thousand 444 taka. The accounts stated that the money came from monthly subscriptions by party members, sales of nomination forms, donations from individuals and institutions, and dividends from FDR. At the same time, the party has spent 1 crore 98 lakh 47 thousand 171 taka. It has been mentioned in the statement of accounts filed by BNP that this expenditure has been incurred in various sectors including salary and bonus of employees, crore paper bills, office expenses. According to BNP's income-expenditure calculations, the party is saddled with a debt of Tk 1 crore 14 lakh 34 thousand 727 crore. The leaders of the party make speeches every day saying that Bangladesh is becoming Sri Lanka. But the truth is not Bangladesh but that party is becoming Sri Lanka. How can a political party with liabilities on paper be blowing 10-15 crore rupees a week? Ziaur Rahman, a military hero who founded BNP, said, 'Money is no problem.' Zia formed BNP with the help of military intelligence while sitting in the cantonment. Brought people of other parties with money. The late BNP leader Barrister Maudud Ahmed has written an allegation that he used to threaten businessmen and industrialists to collect money to form the party. To eliminate Awami League and establish BNP as a political party he said, 'Money is no problem'. This is the motto of BNP politics. Now again Bangladesh is seeing the practical application of 'money is no problem' theory. BNP-Jamaat has taken over almost the entire social media with money. The government has been put under pressure by hiring lobbyists. The United States has banned RAB. The ban was given on International Human Rights Day on December 10 last year. BNP has called a mass rally in Dhaka on December 10. If you listen a little, you can hear the suppressed cheers of the BNP leaders. On that day another big ban is coming on Bangladesh. This ban will be more severe than last year's ban. I also hear that Bangladesh will be shocked. BNP is talking happily not about the December 10 rally, but about the upcoming ban. Money talks. Now its truth is also seen. Ambassadors of different countries are now speaking the language of BNP leaders. BNP is pouring money to oust the government. Money is no problem. But where is the money coming from? A few days ago, I heard the leader of Awami League saying, "BNP leaders are taking huge sums of money by threatening businessmen." The businessmen are not stupid children that you’ll scared them and thay will give you crores of money. I do not agree with the idea of fear-mongering and taking money from businessmen. Some businessmen have now become BNP lovers. After the elections in October 2001, the 'Hawa Bhavan' Central Business Syndicate was formed. All these traders were booming. After Awami League came to power in 2009, almost all of them became Awami League overnight. The company that late Syed Ashraf refused to approve the construction of the flyover due to the alleged involvement of Hawa Bhaban, the businessman close to Hawa Bhaban got the approval for the flyover. What are they doing now? Where is the investment of the company that owns many banks at the same time? At home or abroad? Nobody cares to know that. Many business groups are now having photo sessions with ministers in five-star hotels dressed as Awami League supporters. At night, BNP expatriates are sending Nazrana for the Prince. Such allegations are heard in various discussions. Those who are smuggling thousands of crores of money by over in voicing in the name of garments are gloating with the praise of the government and giggling with a donation check of 1 crore, but who do they talk to at late night on their secret phone? Does the government not know about the businessmen who are busy entertaining BNP asking the nomination for Awami League? Several businessmen are supplying BNP with fuel to keep it running while lamenting that exports are being stopped due to fuel crisis. What is being investigated about them? Those who are rehabilitating the 'money is no problem' theory to make Bangladesh a failed state, not the government, are harmful to the state and the people. If the free flow of illegal money is not stopped in the crazy politics of destruction, the situation is bound to go beyond the control of the government.



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