Bangladesh trying to rescue MV Abdullah’s sailors without any harm: Foreign Minister Dr Hasan Mahmud

Foreign Minister and Awami League Joint General Secretary Hasan Mahmud on Saturday said Bangladesh trying to rescue MV Abdullah’s sailors and ships stationed there without any harm.

“Last time when MV Jahan Moni was hijacked, it took 100 days to free them. Now we are trying to rescue them (hostages) as soon as possible,” he said this during a meeting in Chittagong on Saturday noon.

The minister said: "There is coal in the ship. Coal is a flammable substance. So nothing can be done so that flammable materials are threatened, the ship is damaged. Those who hijacked the ship have already contacted the owner authorities. International organizations are also helping us in this regard. If you talk to the families of the sailors, you will know that they are also very reassured. Hopefully, we can rescue the sailors soon.”

Regarding BNP’s call to boycott Indian products Hasan Mahmud said the main objective of BNP's Indian products boycott is to destabilize the country's market and increase prices of essentials so that people suffer.

He said many products in Bangladesh come from India, and some border trade also takes place legally across thousands of kilometres of border. 

"You will eat onions that come from India, your leader will wear sarees from India, your field-level female leaders will also wear Indian sarees, you will eat iftar that has beef that comes from India, you will go to India for medical treatment, and you call for boycott of Indian products — these are nothing but hypocrisy. The real objective of BNP is to increase the price of products by destabilising the market in the country," Hasan said.

The foreign minister said that BNP leader Ruhul Kabir Rizvi had burnt his shawl along with those who called for a boycott of Indian products. "Actually, I do not know if the shawl was bought from India or from Bangabazar."