Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has urged the countrymen not to pay heed to the rumours and hand over the rumour-mongers to the police.
“Please don’t pay heed to the rumours and not to take law in own hands, and instead hand over those spreading rumours to the police,” she said.
The Prime Minister made the call while addressing a meeting of Awami League (AL) leaders and workers through a teleconference from London on Tuesday, report bdnews24.com and BSS.
The meeting, presided over by AL General Secretary Obaidul Quader, was held at the Awami League central office at Bangabandhu Avenue in the capital.
Besides the central leaders, leaders of AL North and South City units and its associate bodies and two mayors joined the meeting.
The Prime Minister said a vested quarter is beating people to death by spreading rumours.
“A mother was beaten to death through spreading rumours and what is the situation of her child today?,” she said.
“So, it’s my call to all not to take law in your own hands. If you think anyone guilty, not to beat him/her to death, rather hand over him/her to the police,” she added.
Sheikh Hasina, also the AL president, said after investigations proper actions will be taken against those found guilty.
The premier said beating innocent people to death after hearing the rumours is an act of sine. “It’s similar to killing,” she said.
In this connection, she requested the newspapers and electronic media not to mislead the people by disseminating false news.
“There will be a request of mine to the newspapers and electronic media not to misguide the people by disseminating news not knowing the real information,” she said.
The Prime Minister also urged everyone to fight dengue and called for collective efforts to keep houses and offices clean to prevent mosquitoes from breeding.
"I urge everyone to keep their houses and surrounding areas clean. That will save us from the disease," she said.
Talking about the presence of antibiotics in pasteurised milk, the Prime Minister indicated that it may be “trickery” by importers to harm local producers.
“I’ve noticed that, after milk tests, somebody said the milk was not consumable. A writ petition followed soon afterwards. That’s why the sales of pasteurised milk were banned for five weeks.”
While the government is encouraging villagers to become self-reliant through milk farming and emphasising food exports after meeting local demand, misinformation is weighing on poverty alleviation, said Hasina.
"We should look into whether it was trickery by milk importers, or they are encouraging it in some way.”
The Prime Minister warned that legal action would be taken if the export activities were hampered due to the spread of rumours about the traces of antibiotics in milk.
