At a press conference in Sylhet Press Club, they said the greater Sylhet region, which had suffered in the past, developed a lot following Saifur's winning the election and becoming the finance minister.

They sought the prime minister's intervention in the matter and urged her to stop Saifur from resigning. They said if Saifur resigned due to conspiracies against him, they would launch large-scale agitation programmes in the region.

M Enayetullah, former principal of Sylhet MAG Osmani Medical College, read out a statement in the conference organised yesterday afternoon under the banner of 'Amra Sylhet Bashi'. The organisation was launched last Friday at a meeting of local elite believed to be of pro-Saifur camp.

The organisers also called upon the prime minister to punish those who spoke ill of the finance minister.

Former presidents of Sylhet District Bar Association Shamsul Islam Chowdhury and Soleman Raja Chowdhury, former principal of Sylhet Government Women's' College MA Matin, District Bar President Dewan Golam Rabbani Chowdhury, Sylhet Chamber of Commerce & Industries President Faruque Ahmed Misbah and its former president Md Mohiuddin also attended the press conference.

Meanwhile, speakers at a rally at Biswanath upazila, strongly condemned the moves against the ruling party lawmaker M Ilyas Ali.

At the rally under the banner 'Sylhet Shushil Samaj', they said comments by a senior minister about the young lawmaker, aired on a few private TV channels, hurt them and the people of Biswanath and Balaganj.

They said they would take to the street if needed to defend the lawmaker against these. Ramsundar High School Headmaster Alhaj Tojommul Ali chaired the rally held at the upazila complex. The rally was also addresses by a number of religious leaders, teachers and business leaders.