Minister, Content Creator Slinging Dirt
‘Even the Home Minister does not know about the case,’ Muqtadir mocks
Collage of Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed and content creator Salman Muqtadir.
Content creator Salman Muqtadir has reacted to Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed’s statement, “Did he file any case? He did not,” saying that a case had in fact been filed but the home minister was unaware of it. The content creator also questioned the alleged “disconnect” between the home minister and the security arrangements for citizens.
Salman Muqtadir made the remarks in a video message posted on his verified Facebook page at 3:20pm on Sunday, taking a swipe at the home minister’s comments. There has been widespread discussion over the vandalism at his studio in Dhaka.
Earlier in the afternoon, the home minister told reporters at the Secretariat, “Did the person (Salman Muqtadir) who made the allegation file any case? He did not. At one point, he said that nobody had demanded extortion money from him. He reportedly said that he would have paid if someone had asked. That is what I have heard.”
The home minister rejected as a sweeping allegation Salman Muqtadir’s claim that BNP activists were involved in extortion. He said, “If Salman Muqtadir files a specific case, the matter will be investigated.”
In response, Salman Muqtadir posted a video message saying, “The security of every citizen of the country is in your hands. When you hold such a major responsibility and say that I did not file a case, that is ridiculous. Through this, you have belittled your own department and the entire government.”
“Every police station is under your authority. You do not even know that a case has been filed. How ‘detached’ are you from your citizens and the security protocol?” Salman added.
The home minister had also questioned why a case had not been filed. Salman responded to that as well, saying, “I want to ask you a counter-question. We were sitting at Cantonment Police Station with so many people until 4am last night, yet no case was filed from then until this afternoon. Until things went viral, your statement came. Why was no case filed before that? That is my question, and it should be your question as well as the question of the people of the country. You have to answer why a case was not filed under Salahuddin Ahmed.”
‘You are helpless, and so am I’
Comparing his own situation with that of the home minister's, Salman said, “Look, you are helpless, and so am I. You cannot do anything, and neither can I.”
Referring to people who had been detained in connection with the incident, he said, “Those who were detained there were beaten by people and ended up naming the BNP. Now they can carry out vandalism and take the BNP’s name; why can’t I?”
Drawing a parallel between the home minister’s remarks and his own situation, Salman said, “You are brushing the matter aside with a smile, and I am also brushing it aside with a smile. This is the country; this is Bangladesh. You are a citizen, and I am also a citizen.”
‘People in two trucks arrived and attacked the studio’
Salman Muqtadir alleged that on Saturday night, a group of people arrived in two trucks and attacked and vandalised Brownfish Studio at ECB Chattar in the capital.
At around 1:45am, Salman went live from the Brownfish Studio Facebook page and said, “The studio was attacked a short while ago, and the entire studio has been destroyed.”
Salman later alleged that the main target of the attackers may have been the owner of the building and that extortion money may have been demanded from him.
