President Abdul Hamid yesterday urged the people of the country to forge a greater unity against all types of syndicates of dishonest people and organisations.  "All orginsations of transport owners and workers, dishonest businessmen who manipulate the market have the unity.  But it is a matter of regret that only general people have no unity," he said. He said this while delivering his speech at the 13th Convocation of Brac University held at the city's army stadium. "The price of onion per kg was Tk 50 but it shot up to Tk 240 to 250 per kg within a span of two months. But people are still buying onion at the high price,” he said.   People should face the situation together and only people can stand against it, said the President adding that if the price is not within your purchasing capacity then you have to avoid using onion. “Onion is a perishable product. If we don’t eat onion for a month, the dishonest businessmen will be forced to sell it at a lower price,” Hamid said.  Various types of propaganda were spread as if there was no onion, salt or any other items (in the market), and thus efforts were made to confuse people, he said.

The President also urged everyone not to pay heed to propaganda about the shortage of onion or salt in the market.

He said middlemen are getting the benefit of this propaganda.  “So, you’ll have to forge a greater unity against these dishonest people.”  Turing to education sector, President Hamid said education without quality is meaningless.

“One of the biggest challenges for Bangladesh is to ensure quality education because education is pointless without its quality. So, it must be ensured so that higher education can’t be certificate- based one in any way,” he said. It is necessary to ensure the quality of educational institutions and their transparency and accountability for the development of the nation, formation of better society and creation of world-class graduates, he said adding the government is aware of this and various projects have been undertaken to improve the quality of higher education in the country.

Welcoming former UN secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who was the Convocation Speaker, to Bangladesh, the President said, “As the eighth Secretary-General of the United Nations, you’ve made significant contributions towards establishing world peace and harmony. Your actions to mobilise world leaders for facing global challenges, including climate change, food, energy and water are praiseworthy.”

“You’ve acted as a bridge-builder among the nations and raised voice for the world’s poorest and most vulnerable people. Your contribution to the UN will be ever remembered by the comity of nations,” he added. Former UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon delivered his speech as the Convocation speaker while Education Minister Dr Dipu Moni, Foreign Minister Dr AK Abdul Momen also delivered their speeches. A total of 3,250 graduates took part in the 13th convocation while four students received the Chancellor’s Gold Medal from the President. Secretaries concerned to the President were also present during the convocation.