Communications Minister Obaidul Quader yesterday said “sorry” for slapping a train attendant while visiting Ishwardi Railway Station on Saturday.
Also in charge of the railways ministry, Quader slapped Boloram Das across the face for charging extra money for a ticket from a passenger.
“Although public support is in my favour for the slap, as a responsible person I feel that I should not have done this. I felt very sad [later],” said the minister at a meeting with Roads and Highways Department engineers at Sarak Bhaban in the capital.
Later, talking to The Daily Star, Quader apologised for what he had done.
He, however, referred to the public reaction in prothomalo.com on the news and said 92 percent readers supported his action.
“I also thank those newspapers which published the news on the event. Through the public reaction, I have come to know that some people have different opinions about my action,” he added.
Elaborating on the incident, the minister said, “I saw a poor elderly woman standing on the train with her paralysed husband even after having tickets. They were weeping at not having seats.
“When I asked them about the reason behind their predicament, the woman complained that the attendant had asked for extra money from her before she could be given a seat. Then I could not control myself and slapped the attendant, who is very young, as he failed to explain his undue demand for money,” Quader said.
Moreover, the minister explained that the attendant replied in English to show his competence which also irked him.
Sources said the attendant was later handed over to police for demanding the extra money.
At the meeting, the minister asked the engineers to work sincerely to deliver services to the people properly. He also directed them to ensure quality in road construction and maintenance works so that the government did not have to go for repairing again and again.
Talking to The Daily Star, some engineers quoted the minister as saying that he was working relentlessly and would not tolerate any negligence of duty by any officials concerned.
Quader also thanked the engineers for cooperating with him in repairing roads and highways ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr.
Claiming that he did not take any percentage from engineers and contractors for any road construction work, the minister warned that he would go tough against any kind of corruption or irregularities in the RHD.
Courtesy of The Daily Star
