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DHAKA: State Minister for Liberation War Affairs Ishraq Hossain is set to resign amid controversy over a “drug control operation” in which he was seen carrying a firearm. The eldest son of former Dhaka City Corporation mayor Sadeque Hossain Khoka announced his decision in a Facebook post on Monday morning.
On Sunday night, Ishraq dismissed media reports that Prime Minister Tarique Rahman had instructed him to resign from the cabinet, calling them rumours. His press officer also issued a rebuttal, describing the reports as false and misleading.
However, after Ishraq himself announced his resignation on Monday morning, Shafiqul Alam, press secretary to the chief adviser of the interim government, spoke out on the matter.
In a post on his verified Facebook page, Shafiqul Alam said the prime minister had summoned Ishraq on Sunday and instructed him not to attend the cabinet meeting. Tarique Rahman also asked him to submit his resignation letter.
Ishraq subsequently went to the office of a senior official at the Prime Minister’s Office, where the resignation letter was drafted with the official’s assistance. The Daily Wada was able to confirm these details on Sunday night, Shafiqul Alam said.
He added that the situation then began to take a different turn. It appeared that Ishraq was making strong efforts to reverse the decision. Although the prime minister remained busy throughout the day and finished his work at around 11pm, some people still hoped he might reconsider.
However, Tarique Rahman is a man of few words who is also restrained in expressing his emotions, Shafiqul Alam wrote.
He suspected that the statement issued by Ishraq’s press officer on Sunday night was a last-minute attempt to steer the narrative in a different direction. But, as Ferdousi Mishti had apparently understood a few days earlier, once the prime minister makes a decision, there is no turning back.
Meanwhile, Ishraq’s press officer had denied reports that the state minister had resigned or had been instructed to resign, describing them as entirely false, baseless, fabricated and motivated.
Mahfuz Kabir Mukta, the state minister’s press officer, made the statement in a press release issued on Sunday night.