Foreign Minister and Awami League joint general secretary Hasan Mahmud on Tuesday said Tarique Rahman is the symbol of corruption and terrorism and he is the face of BNP's bad governance.

He said the BNP-Jamaat and some people, who are called intellectuals; do not see any progress when the country moves forward.

“I pray to almighty Allah to guide them. Their intelligence should be used for development, not for propaganda,” said the AL leader.

Hasan said the United Nations Secretary General, OIC Secretary General all praised Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

He made the remarks following the recent comments of BNP leaders while speaking as the chief guest at a discussion highlighting the role of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his daughter Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at Jatiya Press Club.

The foreign minister said, “I would like to remind BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir that Bangladesh has become the champion of corruption five times during your (BNP-Jamaat) regime.

The FBI testified about Tarique Rahman's corruption, he said, adding that Tarique Rahman of BNP is the king of corruption and Secretary General Fakhrul Saheb is theirs.

Hasan also said, “Begum Zia is sick. She is my mother's age. I don't want to talk more about that. He is also convicted of corruption. During the period of BNP, there were Hawa Bhavan and Khoab Bhaban. You know about Hawa Bhaban, I am ashamed to talk about Khoab Bhaban.”

The joint general secretary of the party highlighted the position of Awami League against corruption and said, “Our government has adopted zero tolerance policy against corruption while courts and ACC work independently.”

Awami League central committee member Advocate Balaram Poddar, Dhaka Metropolitan South Awami League former general secretary Shah-e-Alam Murad and Awami League leader MA Karim, Shahjahan Alam Saju, Shahadat Hossain, Jinnat Ali Khan Jinnah, Manik Lal Ghosh, among others, participated in the discussion.