Workers Party of Bangladesh chief Rashed Khan Menon claims he has never been dishonest in his life.
“I have been an honest [person] and will remain so. I had to face numerous struggles. We might make mistakes throughout our journey. But, one thing is certain we didn’t lose courage. Our comrades are still battling on the field,” he said on Saturday (Nov 2) while addressing his party's 10th Congress.
On leaders, who quit the party recently citing ideological issues, Menon said, “They helped the party forge an alliance with the Awami League. Now they don’t want it and mulling a new coalition.
“Some of my comrades have raised the issue of my personal ideology as well as forming an alliance on the hundred years of the communist movement … I want to clarify that no coalition can be formed through conspiracy, let alone a communist or democratic one,” the veteran politician said.
Referring to the crackdowns on casinos, Menon, the lawmaker from Dhaka-8 seat where most of the illicit gambling operations were run in sporting clubs, alleged that media ran reports on his involvement “citing false sources.”
A former minister in the Sheikh Hasina-led Awami League administration, Menon claimed that his motion on loan defaulters went unaccepted in parliament.
“There is no discussion on the gas price hike and it’s the reality,” he said urging the government to ensure freedom of speech in a bid to build a ‘Digital Bangladesh.’
Speaking of the remittance, Menon said that mass graves of Bangladeshi workers were discovered in Thai forest and that many others die in Malaysia’s rubber gardens.
“Despite the odds, we take pride of their hardship and claim to set the record on the remittance,” he added.
Citing majority portion of the $33 billion-reserve is remitted by the migrant workers, Menon said that professionals or the affluent expatriates do not send money.
Prior to independence, "twenty families took money to Pakistan. Now people build a second home [in foreign countries],” he added.
As many as 750 representatives from 58 districts participated in the four-day Congress that began with the singing of the party and the national anthems.