Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader on Sunday warned that the government will take action against anyone abusing the Digital Security Act for political gains during the coronavirus crisis.

Obaidul Quader also general secretary of Awami League said while the people reserve the right to flag any irregularity in the relief efforts, ‘twisting’ the facts to use it for political propaganda is tantamount to an offence.

The AL leader told this in a media briefing on Sunday.

“Anyone can disagree with an initiative taken by the government. The government led by Sheikh Hasina is always respectful of the democratic rights of all citizens. But it can’t support the spread of disinformation and confusion among the public without checking the authenticity of the information,” Quader said.

“We’ve said repeatedly that we need to maintain a united front during this crisis to tackle it. We also reiterated that the Digital Security Act must not be abused. The home ministry is alert to the issue and will take action against the abuse of the law,” he added.

The Awami League general secretary also took a swipe at his BNP counterpart Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir over his criticism of the government’s handling of the coronavirus crisis.

“He is trying to spread confusion among the masses. It is a part of the BNP’s malicious strategy to further their political agenda,” said Quader.

Aside from the government’s relief work, the Awami League, on its own initiative, has distributed food items and cash to 10 million families in the country in line with the prime minister’s orders, he added.

The government is also working closely with its embassies and missions abroad to ensure that necessary steps are taken to reduce the plight of 12 million Bangladeshi migrants around the world during the pandemic, according to Quader.