DHAKA, April 29, 2019 (BSS) – The cabinet today ordered a nationwide
intensified anti-militancy security and intelligence vigil against the
backdrop of recent terrorist attack in Sri Lanka as the council of ministers
met in their weekly meeting with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.
“Directives were issued (at the meeting) for anti-militancy precautions
and enforcement of an intensified nationwide intelligence vigil,” cabinet
division’s senior secretary for coordination and reforms Dr Md Shamsul Arefin
told a media briefing at Bangladesh Secretariat here.
He said the cabinet issued the directives referring to the terrorist
attack in Sri Lanka while the meeting simultaneously condemned the assault
and took two condolence motions for the victims in general and particularly
Zyan Chowdhury, senior Awami League leader Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim MP’s
grandson.
The cabinet conveyed deep sympathy to the bereaved family members and
prayed for peace of the departed souls and wished early recovery of the
injured including Zyan’s Father Moshiul Haque Chowdhury.
The meeting, Arefin said, also asked all people to stay alert against
militancy and terrorism.
A series of near simultaneous terror attacks killed 253 people including
36 foreigners and wounded some 500 others on April 21 last in Sri lanka.
According to the official the meeting, held at Prime Minister Office (PMO),
reiterated Bangladesh’s ‘zero tolerance policy’ against terrorism and vowed
to stand by the Sri Lankan government and its people.
Arefin said the cabinet in principal approved the draft of Bangladesh
Industrial Technical Assistant Centre Act, 2019, aimed at increasing the
skill of labourers both in public and private industries, revising a 1962
ordinance.
He said the proposed law prescribed formation of an 11-member board of
directors to run the Bangladesh Industrial Technical Assistant Centre
(BITAC).
The meeting, he said, also approved the draft of “Agreement on Cultural
Cooperation” with Lebanon through exchange of views and expertise,
acknowledging the Middle Eastern nation’s rich cultural heritage.