News Desk :
Disgraced State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Murad Hassan has resigned from the cabinet following the instruction of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for his offensive and indecent remarks on women.
The under-fire junior minister submitted his resignation letter to the Prime Minister on Tuesday showing personal reasons for quitting his job, reports UNB.
“Yes, State Minister Murad Hassan’s resignation letter, addressing the Honorable Prime Minister, reached the Information Ministry. It’ll be forwarded to the Cabinet Division for taking necessary steps,” a senior official told UNB wishing anonymity.
UNB adds: Soon after submitting his resignation letter, State Minister for Information and Broadcasting Murad Hassan on Tuesday apologized to women.
In a post on his verified Facebook profile, Murad wrote around 1pm, “If I’ve made any mistake or if my words have hurt mothers and sisters, then forgive me.” He also said he will abide by forever all the decisions of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.
Beside, Murad Hassan has made a mistake in the resignation letter he submitted, reports bdnews24.com
The state minister for information emailed his resignation letter, urging the prime minister to accept it and remove him from his duties.
But, though he was appointed as state minister in 2019, he mistakenly wrote the year 2021 in the letter.
In addition to the emailed copy, the Cabinet Division has asked Murad to submit a hard copy of his resignation letter, said an official in the Ministry of Information. His aide was asked to resend the letter after correcting the date.
Murad was appointed state minister for health following the formation of the new cabinet on Jan 7, 2019. He was transferred to the Ministry of Information a few months later.
Murad Hassan had been under increasing criticism by various quarters for his disrespectful remarks on women in an interview on social media. A number of audios and videos containing indecent remarks by Murad Hassan also went viral on social media during the last few days.
A two-year-old phone conversation of the junior minister with actor Mamnun Hasan Emon and actress Mahiya Mahi recently went viral on social media. In that audio clip, Murad made “derogatory comments” on the actress, threatened her and gave her an alleged indecent proposal. On Monday, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina asked State Minister for Information Murad Hassan to resign from the cabinet by Tuesday for his recent derogatory remarks on social media.
“I had talks with the Prime Minister in this regard in the evening, and the message has been passed to the state minister around 8pm,” said Obaidul Quader, also the Awami League General Secretary.
Demanding his immediate resignation, women and rights bodies and political parties slammed Murad for the indecent remarks he made against women.
BNP on Monday demanded State Minister for Information Dr Murad Hassan apologise publicly and withdraw his “politically motivated, racial and derogatory” remarks against women and the Zia family.
In a statement, BNP secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir also urged Murad to step down immediately. Otherwise, he threatened that a befitting reply would be given to Murad at an appropriate time.
Fakhrul expressed strong hatred and anger against “perverted, indecorous, racist and anti-women” remarks by the state minister that went viral on social media.
He demanded immediate attention and solution to such disgusting and indecent behaviour of a person performing important duty of the state.
The BNP leader said the entire nation was stunned that the derogatory comments came from an “insane” person carrying the national flag.
During an interview on social media recently, the junior minister described BNP acting chairman Tarique Rahman as a ‘whoreson’ and alleged that Zaima Rahman, Tarique’s daughter, cannot sleep without the company of a black man every night.
