Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan yesterday said Prothom Alo Editor Matiur Rahman is a pervert in his taste and thought.
Shahjahan made the remark following publication of a cartoon depicting him in the leading national daily on Saturday. “Only a man who is a pervert in taste and thought can publish such a cartoon,” said Shahjahan.
He was speaking at a discussion organised by Bangladesh Bus-Truck Owners Association at Gabtoli Bus Terminal in the capital.
Talking about news reports on giving licences to unskilled drivers, the minister said the media are publishing false information.
Referring to a study of a Buet professor, the minister claimed the number of road accidents and fatalities in the country is going down.
He said a total of 3,430 people died in 4,357 road accidents in 2002, while 2,958 people died in 3,381 accidents in 2009, he said.
But he did not mention the name of the professor or when the study was published.
Meanwhile, Sohel Mahmud, an assistant professor of Accident Research Institute of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet), yesterday told The Daily Star, the frequency of fatal accidents is increasing.
According to a World Health Organization study of 2005, on average 10,000 people are killed in the country annually, while the number of death doubled in 2009, Mahmud said.
Addressing the function, Dhaka District Transport Workers Union president Abbas Uddin urged the workers not to carry the copies of Prothom Alo in their vehicles.
Different transport workers, leaders and owners also spoke at the function.
Courtesy of The Daily Star
