“Calling to boycott Indian products, BNP wants to disrupt market”

Foreign Minister Mahmud Hasan.

Dhaka, Mar 23 - Foreign Minister and Awami League Joint General Secretary Hasan Mahmud on Saturday said the main objective of BNP's call to boycott Indian products is to destabilise the country's market and increase prices of essentials so that people suffer.

He said many products in Bangladesh come from India, and some border trade also takes place legally across thousands of kilometres of border. 

"You will eat onions that come from India, your leader will wear sarees from India, your field-level female leaders will also wear Indian sarees, you will eat iftar that has beef that comes from India, you will go to India for medical treatment, and you call for boycott of Indian products — these are nothing but hypocrisy. The real objective of BNP is to increase the price of products by destabilising the market in the country," Hasan said.

The foreign minister made the remarks when reporters asked him about the call for a boycott of Indian products by some groups, including BNP. 

He spoke as the chief guest at the district development coordination meeting at the Chattogram Circuit House.

The foreign minister said that BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi has burnt his shawl along with those who called for a boycott of Indian products. "Actually, I don't know if the shawl was bought from India or from Bangabazar."-UNB