Taking a swipe at Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen for his comment that "the people of Bangladesh are living in paradise compared to other countries," BNP on Saturday said it is nothing but a joke with people when they are struggling to survive.

"At a time, when the people of the country are suffering every moment and finding it difficult to survive amid miseries, then the foreign minister said we're living in paradise. It's absolutely ridiculous," said BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, reports UNB.

Addressing a press conference at the BNP Chairperson's Gulshan office in the capital, he also said it is unjustified for AK Momen to ridicule people at a time of their anguish.

Fakhrul said the Foreign Minister also made such ridiculous remarks in the past. "But, he has no right to make such a mockery."

"I am sorry to say on a personal level. Lately, what has emerged in his (Momen's) appearance is that he has become puffed up. What has happened to most of the ministers--let me say in our local language that--their fat has increased, because of widespread plundering," he observed.

The BNP leader said the ministers are ridiculing people only for justifying their plundering. "They have started joking with people about this (power) crisis."

BNP Standing Committee member Iqbal Hasan Mahmud Tuku and Chairperson's Advisory Council member Ismail Zabihullah were present at the press conference.

Earlier on Friday, Foreign Minister AK Abdul Momen told journalists in Sylhet that people in Bangladesh are happier than those in many other countries and they live in paradise amid the global recession.