Bangladesh’s minister Syed Mohsin Ali smoking a cigarette on the dais of a reception programme as a top military official looks on, in Moulvibazar recently.
Bangladesh’s social welfare minister Syed Mohsin Ali yesterday tendered an apology for smoking at a function held to honour students in Moulvibazar town on Monday.
All major dailies yesterday front-paged photos of the minister taking a pleasant puff with a top military official sitting by his side at the function.
The minister made the apology by holding a press conference at his Moulvibazar residence yesterday afternoon. Addressing the news conference, he promised that it would never happen again.
“I am utterly embarrassed by the picture of mine which has been published in several newspapers. I am not denying that I am a chain smoker, but smoking in public is obviously not the right thing to do,” he said.
According to media reports, Ali was in Moulvibazar to give away awards to students of the Sylhet Border Guard Public School and College who scored high marks in the last year’s Junior School Certificate (JSC) and Primary School Certificate (PSC) examinations.
He was seen puffing, oblivious of the fact that smoking in public places including educational institutions is a punishable offence.
A parent who attended the function said when speakers were extolling moral virtues and advising the students to dedicate themselves to the service of the country, “the minister felt like lighting a cigarette just then”.
The social networking sites were flooded with remarks on Ali’s smoking fiasco.
“I sincerely apologise for the incident which happened unconsciously. I hope you will pardon me considering my self-realisation,” Ali also wrote in his Facebook status.