Staff Correspondent, Dhaka
Chief Adviser Muhammad Yunus is holding a meeting with top leaders of the country's major political parties, including the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami.
The meeting, which started at 4:00pm at the Foreign Service Academy in the capital, is expected to discuss ongoing issues of the country.
Political leaders, including a five-member BNP delegation led by its Standing Committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, entered the academy from 3:30pm.
This is the second round of meetings the chief adviser is holding within a day to call for national unity amid the ongoing situation in Bangladesh.
Meeting agenda
The chief advisor is seeking political leaders' opinion on three issues – the ongoing "propaganda" against Bangladesh in India and other parts of the world, the attack on the Bangladesh Assistant High Commission in Agartala, and the allegations of minority attacks in recent days.
The industry advisor, Adilur Rahaman, pointed out the agenda during the introductory speech, said Asaduzzaman Fuaad, joint secretary general of the Amar Bangladesh Party, after coming out from the meeting at 5:20pm. The meeting is still ongoing as of 6pm.
Fuaad said all political parties expressed their solidarity with the government on the above-mentioned issues.
He further stated that besides the agenda, several political parties talked about the country's foreign missions.
They expressed their dissatisfaction as officials of the previous regime were still working on diplomatic missions abroad, and asked the government to replace them, said Fuaad.
Earlier yesterday, he met student leaders, including the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement, at his official residence the State Guest House Jamuna.
During the meeting, leaders of the Anti-Discrimination Student Movement suggested forming an anti-propaganda cell.
"We discussed several issues, including recent tensions, Bangladesh's relations with India, communal issues, rising commodity prices, the ground reality, public sentiment, and the education reform commission with the chief adviser," the movement's convener Hasnat Abdullah told journalists in a brief press conference in front of the chief adviser's residence after the meeting.
"Chief Adviser Professor Muhammad Yunus has taken notes from us," he added.
Meanwhile, the chief adviser told the students that they are the guardians of the state.
"You [students] are the guardians of the country. Don't forget this role. Don't forget your own role. Many are here and many are not. But those who are not here are also the guardians of the state," he said.
Yunus also invited the leaders of religious groups to join a dialogue with him tomorrow (5 December).
