2024-09-05 14:31:27
Adviser to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Touhid Hossain has commented that there may be room for misunderstanding regarding the letter sent by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) seeking the information of 38 officials of the Bangladesh Embassy in 10 countries. He made this comment at a press briefing at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Wednesday (September 4).
On September 3, the ACC wrote to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs asking for the information of 38 officials and employees of the Bangladesh Embassy in 10 countries including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada.
When asked about this, the foreign adviser said, “I saw it in the newspaper today for the first time. There may be some confusion here, we will clear it up. Audit objection and corruption are not the same thing. To give a small example—a vehicle was purchased for the Calcutta Mission during my tenure. Many smaller cars are available in Delhi for less. Advance given to agent, agent means broker. But, actually they are agents of the car company. It has been alleged that 4 lakh rupees were paid to the broker, which is recoverable. The objection is against me. Why did I give it, will this money be recoverable from me? I told the DG of Mission Audit that if you want to buy a car, you have to make a booking, so you have to pay some money in advance. Audit objections are often like this. Whether they are seen as corruption or not, remains to be seen. Because, by the nature of the complaints, they appear to be the result of many audit objections. Audit objection and corruption are not the same thing. we will see
Touhid Hossain said about cooperating with the ACC, I will definitely cooperate. We do not want any corruption. So we will do whatever assistance is required. To see whether there has been corruption? Seeing that, I will cooperate in that way.
Does that mean there may be room for some misunderstanding with the ACC, the advisor said, I think there is room. However, I will not say anything for sure, until I see each case in detail.
In response to a question about ambassadors being asked to return from various missions, he said that all those who were in the agreement have been recalled. Three of them were former officers of the admin cadre, whose contracts have already been terminated yesterday. We gave the rest four weeks. They will all come. However, the replacement will take some time. It won’t happen suddenly. It should be given carefully, experienced people.
Many are overzealous and suing many, isn’t it? When asked, the foreign adviser said, “It can happen, it always happens.” Nothing to worry too much about it.