Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan considers logical the law and order cabinet committee's recommendation to extend the holy Eid-ul-Azha holiday by one day.

He said this in reply to a journalist's question after a meeting on overall law and order for Eid-ul-Azha at the Secretariat on Sunday (18 June).

The minister said the law and order cabinet committee had recommended extending the Eid holiday by a day. Asked about progress, he said: "It has not happened yet. You know this has to be decided by the cabinet. It will be raised in the cabinet and you will be informed. It is a proposal, and we think it is a logical proposal. The recommendation has gone to the cabinet, and the decision will be made there."

Asked how the situation would be handled in Jatrabari, where traffic is heavy, roads are broken and a cattle market is again being set up, the home minister said: "We have already said we will not allow any market on the highways. Those holding markets beside the highways will be responsible for making sure animals do not get onto the highways under any circumstances. Our security forces will also keep an eye on this."

He also said that no law enforcement agency or anyone else may stop vehicles carrying sacrificial animals on the road without specific information.

"We have made decisions so that sacrificial animals can enter the city properly and transport runs smoothly. We will set up watchtowers at important road junctions and at the cattle markets. The cattle markets will be covered by CCTV cameras," he said.

On a letter from the fisheries and livestock minister asking that cattle be stopped from entering the country across the border, Asaduzzaman Khan said: "Our prime minister made it clear long ago that no animals should come from our neighbouring country. We have been following that for two or three years. What the livestock minister said has been in place for us for a long time; there is nothing new to say. Our border guard is always ready. Animals come in by various tricks, through many gaps."

"We are getting reports that they are coming from Myanmar. The area is so remote that some get in through one gap or another. They often get in, and we are trying to stop animals coming in," he said.

The fisheries and livestock minister had complained about khatals (cattle holding pens), and had also shown a letter described as false. Asked about this, the home minister said: "We have told them. We have stated our position."

Source: Jagonews24. First published in Bengali on The Agro News.