A senior minister in Bangladesh today apologised for smoking at a school function after newspapers published photographs of him puffing cigarettes while seated on the stage, sparking massive media criticism.
"I am deeply ashamed with a picture that appeared in different media yesterday and today. I am not denying that I am a chain smoker, but I absolutely did not do the right thing by smoking in public," Social Welfare Minister Syed Mohsin Ali said in a post on his Facebook account.
Ali added, "I sincerely apologise for the incident which took place largely due to my unconscious mind. I will not repeat it. I hope you will pardon me considering my self-realisation".
Bangladeshi laws prohibit smoking in pubic places and Ali earned public wrath on web-based social networks and public gossip after the publication of the photographs showing him smoking at a function in southeastern Sylhet with schoolchildren as the main audience.
"Nobody alerted me that I should not smoke there," he later told local reporters as some Facebook comments even demanded his expulsion from the cabinet and called for his prosecution for violating the anti-smoking law.
Ali was attending a programme of the paramilitary Border Guard Bangladesh's public school while the two BGB officials sitting beside him appeared embarrassed in the photo.
