Feeding snakes with milk and bananas: Did they prove useful

"Those whom you nourished with milk and bananas—did they prove useful in the final reckoning?" – This pointed question was raised by Dr. A.Z.M. Zahid Hossain, Minister for Women and Children Affairs and Social Welfare, taking an apparent dig at ousted Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

He made the remarks on Sunday while speaking at a commemorative meeting titled "In Memory of July Martyred Textile Engineers," organized by the Jatiyatabadi Textile Engineers Association of Bangladesh (JTEB) at the Institution of Diploma Engineers Bangladesh (IDEB) in the capital.

The Social Welfare Minister said, "A lesson should be learned from the fall of Sheikh Hasina's government. If you do not stand with the people, no force can protect you. We have heard of many forces, many promotions—but in the end, driven by the urge to save their own lives, they had to flee."

He said: "If you fail to earn the love of the people, even after death, there is uncertainty over whether you will receive a funeral prayer. And once you give up power, the fear remains whether your life will be spared. Just as we should see our own faces in the mirror, we should also learn from the past."

Dr. Zahid Hossain pointed out that the movement that began with the 'One-Eleven' (military-backed caretaker government in 2006-08) eventually reached its full expression in the 2024 mass uprising. He claimed, "There was no democracy in the country for the past 19 years. After the mass uprising, in February this year, people were able to vote in peace and without fear."

Stating that no opportunity would be given for a resurgence of authoritarianism, he said, "Those who fled are not sitting idle. Their associates are still lurking around. Remember, some may try to create cracks in national unity. Those who thought they could come back to power through conspiracies, like they did in 2013, are now suffering greatly. The people have foiled their plots."

The special guest at the commemorative meeting was Mir Mohammed Helal Uddin, State Minister for Land and Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs. He said over the past 17 years, it was not only the BNP that suffered—anyone who raised their voice against fascism was subjected to persecution.

The meeting was chaired by JTEB President Engineer Md. Fakhrul Alam, who demanded the immediate rehabilitation of textile engineers who had been dismissed from their jobs for political reasons under the previous government.