"Voicebox"

"Had the population been 142.3 million, we would have been sitting on sacks full of food grains now, and there would have been no requirement of food import."
MATIA CHOWDHURY
agriculture minister
about the preliminary findings of the latest census report that put the country's population at 142.3 million.

"Bangabandhu was assassinated on August 15, 1975. I urged her not to observe her birthday the way it is being observed. However, I saw her 1972's passport where it was mentioned as her birthday."
KADER SIDDIQUI
Krishak Sramik Janata League president
on BNP's invitation to Krishak Sramik Janata League to join anti-government movement.

"I talked to the law minister earlier. He told me he knew nothing about it, and that is why I made the comment. But later I heard that opinion was received from the law ministry."
SURANJIT SENGUPTA
AL lawmaker and chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on the law ministry
about his criticism of the home ministry for not discussing with the law ministry before issuing the recommendations to the president to grant clemency to AHM Biplob, son of ruling party leader Abu Taher of Laxmipur.

"If the money is not paid, the transport drivers have to face cases."
SHAHJAHAN KHAN
Shipping Minister
about extortion by highway police officials.

"Unless it has been committed by a Muslim, it's not terrorism. If a non-Muslim commits an act of terrorism, they don't call him a terrorist. They say he was 'a madman.'"
IBRAHIM HOOPER
spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations
about US media reports and Islamophobes' reactions on the internet after the bombing and shooting incident in Norway by Christian fundamentalist Anders Behring Breivik.

"If the policy pursued by me was wrong, then all former telecom ministers since 1993 should also be in jail with me."
A RAJA
Indian former telecommunication minister
about the allegation of corrupt sale of telecom licences in 2008.