DTCA Executive Director Removed After Comparing BNP Slogan to Hadith

Mohammad Mashiur Rahman, executive director (secretary) of the Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority (DTCA), has been removed from his position following controversial remarks in which he compared a Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) slogan to a Hadith.

He has been transferred to the Ministry of Public Administration. Meanwhile, Additional Chief Engineer Syed Moinul Hasan has been appointed as the new executive director of the DTCA.

The Ministry of Public Administration issued two separate notifications regarding the changes on Tuesday night. However, neither notification specified the reason for Mashiur Rahman's removal.

Earlier, on Sunday, Mashiur Rahman made the remarks while speaking at the inauguration of trial bus services on six routes in Dhaka under the government's ‘One Route, One Company’ initiative.

During his speech, he compared Prime Minister Tarique Rahman's slogan to a Hadith, while acknowledging that some might interpret his remarks as an attempt to curry favour with the prime minister in hopes of securing a future posting.

However, he maintained that the slogan represented a profound and timeless message.

At the event, Mashiur Rahman said, “Who can deny the statement, ‘We before me, country before everything’? Only a selfish person without patriotism could disagree. We will put aside individual interests and stand together as a collective, with the country coming first. Then comes the slogan, ‘We will work, we will build the country, Bangladesh comes first.’ This is a Hadith, a Hadith. It is an eternal message.”