Politics

Chief Whip Nurul Islam Moni calls PM Tareque Rahman 'another Zia'

Speaking to journalists in Barguna, the Jatiya Sangsad chief whip compared the prime minister to former president Ziaur Rahman and listed the government's farm-loan, Family Card and education pledges.

ScrollBeat DeskPublished: 18 Oct 2026, 09:01

The Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban, Bangladesh's national parliament building, in Dhaka. Photo: Wasiul Bahar / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0) Wasiul Bahar / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)

The chief whip of the Jatiya Sangsad and MP for Barguna-2, Md Nurul Islam Moni, has compared Prime Minister Tareque Rahman to former president Ziaur Rahman, saying the prime minister moves among ordinary people and tries to understand their hardship.

Speaking at a meeting with journalists at the Barguna Circuit House on Saturday (17 October) afternoon, he said that calling the prime minister 'Tareque Zia' was wrong and that 'another Zia' was the right phrase.

Moni said Tareque Rahman had chosen to focus on building the country instead of taking revenge, quoting him as saying that much work for the people remained and that it was not the time for revenge. He described the prime minister as hard-working and humane, saying he works through the night.

Listing government measures, the chief whip said interest on farmers' loans of up to Tk 10,000 had been waived as the government's first decision, and that the Family Card scheme would give Tk 2,500 a month to five million poor and vulnerable women. He also cited mid-day meals, free textbooks, an English-language programme and a plan for technical education, and said the government would bear the cost of girls' education up to the MA level.

Turning to Ziaur Rahman, Moni said the country had become self-sufficient in food within three years under his leadership after the 1974 famine, crediting him with canal digging, the growth of the garment industry and poultry farming. On Durga Puja, he said the Hindu community had asked for Tk 4 crore and the prime minister had raised it to Tk 5 crore, and that this year's festival was given a five-day holiday.

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US President Donald Trump. Official portrait by Daniel Torok, released into the public domain. Daniel Torok, The White House

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Kalijira, a Bangladeshi rice variety. The government sells subsidised rice through Open Market Sale outlets. Photo: Masum-al-Hasan Rocky, Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0). Masum-al-Hasan Rocky, Wikimedia Commons

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Food Ministry data presented at the first meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on the ministry on 15 October set an OMS target of 240,000 tonnes of rice and 350,000 tonnes of flour for FY27, The Business Standard reported. In FY26 the government sold 304,000 tonnes of rice and 449,000 tonnes of flour.

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Under the programme, rice sells at Tk 30 a kilogram, loose flour at Tk 24 a kilogram and a two-kilogram packet of flour at Tk 55, through 1,125 outlets run by dealers nationwide. The government has also stopped selling rice through the Trading Corporation of Bangladesh this year, after offering it at subsidised prices last year.

The move follows an existing slide in subsidised distribution. Food ministry data show the government distributed 7.55 lakh tonnes of grain in July-September of FY27, down 7 percent year on year, with OMS sales falling 22 percent to 2.05 lakh tonnes, The Daily Star reported.

Economists warned that the timing is difficult for poor households. "In view of inflation, food distribution should have been increased. We see the opposite," said Nazneen Ahmed, executive director of the Centre for Policy Dialogue. Selim Raihan of the South Asian Network on Economic Modeling said cutting food distribution at such a time risks worsening food insecurity and indebtedness.

Trading Corporation of Bangladesh data around mid-October put medium-quality rice at Tk 56-65 a kilogram in Dhaka, while market visits found coarse and medium varieties had risen by Tk 1-2 a kilogram over the previous week.

Pressure on households remains high. September's 12-month average inflation was 8.65 percent, and the World Bank says about 6.2 crore people are one economic shock away from poverty, with national poverty projected to rise to 22.5 percent in 2026. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization has projected that about 1.81 crore people would face acute food insecurity between September and December.