Pabna doctor’s Facebook post sparks debate after state minister says he dislikes both spouses working
Photo: Collected
Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives State Minister Mir Shahe Alam said he personally does not like both husband and wife working. Soon after, a Facebook post by Pabna General Hospital Assistant Director (current charge) Dr Taslimul Arefin sparked discussion and criticism.
In that post he wrote, ‘How big a fool must a person be to say I don’t like husband and wife both having jobs.’ Dr Taslimul Arefin, however, claims he did not write this in response to the state minister’s remark; he wrote it in the context of a relative of his speaking against husband and wife both working.
Sources concerned said an orientation and training course for LGED assistant engineers was inaugurated at the Kamrul Islam Siddique auditorium of the LGED building in Agargaon in the capital on Tuesday morning. State Minister Mir Shahe Alam spoke there as chief guest.
In his speech, the state minister said, ‘I personally do not like both husband and wife working. The main reason is that its direct impact falls on the children.’
At the same time, he clarified, ‘It is not at all the case that girls are born only to raise children. Someone else can also raise children, but if they grow up under the close shade of their parents, a different kind of mental understanding and values develops in them.’
Cautioning that the remark should not be presented wrongly in the media, Mir Shahe Alam said, ‘I have no objection to two people in the same family working, but it is better for the family if one works — this is entirely my personal opinion.’
Then on Wednesday morning, Dr Taslimul Arefin, assistant director in current charge of the 250-bed Pabna General Hospital and district convener of DAB, made that post on his personal Facebook ID: ‘How big a fool must a person be to say I don’t like husband and wife both having jobs.’
Later, in another post, he wrote, ‘With proper planning and management, husband and wife both having jobs is no obstacle to raising children. Rather, if one has the ability to work, not working is an injustice to the country.’
Dr Taslimul Arefin did not mention the state minister’s name in the Facebook post. Still, many believe he made the criticism by implication. After the two posts spread on social media, mixed reactions arose among people of various classes.
Several doctors in Pabna said the assistant director’s wife Dr Sharmin Khatun Poly is also a junior consultant in the gynaecology department of the same hospital. They commented that he expressed such a view because both of them work.
Pabna district BNP member secretary Advocate Masudur Rahman Masud Khandaker said he does not want to comment on such posts. Everyone has expressed their opinion in their own way. It is their personal matter and does not fall under any constitutional condition.
Asked about it, Pabna General Hospital Assistant Director (current charge) Dr Taslimul Arefin said a relative of his was telling him something about husband and wife both working; he posted on Facebook in response to that. He asked in return why he would post in response to the state minister’s remark. According to him, Facebook is a place to share personal feelings, and he expressed his own feelings there; he did not say anything pointing at anyone. He thinks the matter may be a coincidence, and asked: can’t more than one person in the world say the same thing at the same time?
Background
According to a Jago News report of 15 June 2026, State Minister Mir Shahe Alam is the member of parliament for the Bogura-2 constituency.
Sources
Original report: Ajker Patrika
Background sources: Jago News, 15 June 2026
