Protest Rally in Rangpur Demanding Energy Minister Resignation.

Mohinul Islam Sujan, Crime Reporter. Jamaat-e-Islami held a protest procession and rally in Rangpur to demand the resignation of State Minister for Power and Energy Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku, protesting the sudden hike in fuel oil and gas prices. A warning of stricter programs was issued from the rally if the increased prices were not withdrawn. The metropolitan unit of Jamaat observed this protest program in Rangpur city on Monday (September 21) afternoon. Earlier, a protest procession led by Mahbubur Rahman Belal, the party's Member of Parliament (MP) for the Rangpur-3 constituency, started from the Jamaat office located at Shapla Chattar in the city. After parading through the city's main thoroughfares, the procession converged into a rally in front of the Rangpur Press Club. Speakers at the rally included Rangpur-3 MP Mahbubur Rahman Belal, Rangpur Metropolitan Jamaat Amir ATM Azam Khan, General Secretary Md. Anwarul Haque Kajol, and Jamaat leader Advocate Kawsar Ali, among other leaders. The speakers strongly criticized the hike in fuel oil prices made without any prior announcement. They stated that raising the price by Tk 20 per liter domestically—at a time when fuel oil prices are falling in the global market—is completely unacceptable. They noted that this decision would cause the prices of transport and essential commodities to skyrocket, severely impacting the lives of ordinary people. The speakers emphatically demanded the immediate withdrawal of the increased fuel oil prices and the resignation of the State Minister for Power and Energy, holding him accountable for this failure.