Country communalism-free because of Rab role: Amu

Shrugging off the allegation that members of Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) are being used politically, Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu on Thursday said Bangladesh is now largely free from communalism because of the exemplary role of the elite force. “Bangladesh is now almost free from communalism because of elimination of ‘Bangla Bhai’ and militancy by Rab,” Amu told reporters after a views-exchange meeting with senior Rab officials at the Rab Headquarters at Uttara in the city. Asked whether the government is using the elite force politically, the AL leader said “Rab is being used in government works, not in any political purpose.” Heaping praise on the elite force for its ‘tremendous role in eliminating communalism’, the minister said the Rab members rescued some 1,000 kidnapped people and arrested over 500 kidnappers since its inception 10 years back. Sought comments over killings in ‘crossfire’, Amu said crossfire killing is mere a gossip. “The people whose bodies have recently been found in the Sundarbans, Kushtia, Rajbari and Rajshahi were actually killed by forest robbers and extremists,” according to UNB.