Dhaka: Claiming that World Bank withdrew its Padma Bridge fund bringing a false graft allegation to discredit the Awami League government, Prime Minister’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy has said those who raised the corruption allegation denting reputation of revered people should now apologise to the Prime Minister and her government.

“Those people who took sides against Bangladesh are unpatriotic. They also owe Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, her Awami League Government and all the people whose reputation they hurt an apology. Indeed they owe Bangladesh an apology,” he said through a post on his verified Facebook page.

Joy, also the Information and Communication Technology Adviser to the Prime Minister, came up with the remarks after a Canadian court dismissed the graft allegation in the Padma Bridge project and acquitted three business executives of SNC-Lavalin Group Inc.

“The Canadian court trying the Padma Bridge corruption case has found no evidence of corruption in the project and dismissed all charges. The court stated that the evidence was based on "gossip and rumour". In other words, it was made up,” the Prime Minister’s son said on Saturday.

Stating that the evidence was fabricated by World Bank, he said, “I’d seen the evidence myself during the whole episode. It was quite clearly made up as there were no concrete details, just one anonymous source who was never revealed, even to the Canadian court.”

In fact, Joy said, World Bank fought the court and claimed sovereign immunity against having to provide further evidence. “So they filed charges but refused to provide evidence of their claims!”

“The World Bank came up with this plot against my mother, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government in an attempt to discredit her. Then US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had instructed the World Bank to cancel the funding of the Padma Bridge in order to punish our Government,” he claimed.

Joy said Hillary did it as Nobel Laureate Dr Muhammad Yunus had repeatedly been asking her to take action against his mother.

The Prime Minister’s son said he himself contacted several times during that episode by US State Department officials conveying threats from Hillary against the Bangladesh government if it did not back off Yunus.

He alleged that World Bank attempted to stop the largest infrastructure project in Bangladesh that would benefit tens of millions of people and transform country’s south western region because of Yunus. “Yunus deliberately tried to hurt Bangladesh using a foreign power.”

Joy bemoaned that a section of ‘so-called’ civil society immediately took sides against the country shamefully in favour of World Bank. “They dragged the reputation of several highly respected, qualified and hardworking people through the mud, people such as my mother's former adviser Dr Mashiur Rahman.”