‘Jamaat mastermind of all crimes’

Speakers at a rally yesterday urged countrymen to be more careful about the newly-floated political platform named “Jana Akangkhar Bangladesh” formed by a group of former Jamaat-e-Islami leaders.

Terming Jamaat the “mastermind of all crimes”, they said the party, forming a new platform by so-called expelled leaders, has taken a new strategy of carrying out politics again.

The observations were made at a peace rally against militancy and communal violence, organised by the Awami League-led 14-party alliance at AL’s central office on Bangabandhu Avenue.

In his speech, Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee President Shahriar Kabir said Jamaat was formed as per the spirit of Muslim Brotherhood of Egypt.

 “Since then, the party carried out inhuman activities under the banner of different names at different times, including in 1971, so we all should be aware about their new platform,” he remarked. 

Kabir said some speakers of mahfil [Islamic sermon] must be resisted, as they instigate communal violence.

Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal President Hasanul Haq Inu said communal forces were rehabilitated after the assassination of Bangabandhu and thus, the dream of freedom fighters to build a non-communal state went in vain on several occasions.

 “In democracy, madrasas have the right to be well-run, but no militant activities can exist there,” he added.

Bangladesh Workers’ Party President Rashed Khan Menon said different online social communication platforms should be brought under strict vigilance to stop rumours.

Former Dhaka University Vice Chancellor AAMS Arefin Siddique said people around the globe should try to establish a peaceful world based on humanism. “Otherwise, it will not be possible to stop militant attacks like those in New Zealand and Sri Lanka.”

Sammilita Sangskritik Jote President Golam Kuddus said the evil forces that opposed the country’s independence are trying to regroup under different names, after losing their reputation before the nation due to war crimes.

Mohammad Nasim, 14-party alliance coordinator and chair of the programme, said the incumbent government has been victorious against militancy in the past, and the battle will continue.   

He welcomed the parliament members of BNP for taking oath. “I thank our BNP friends for joining the parliament. They should come forward to resist militancy with us, to rectify the mistakes of the past,” said Nasim, also an AL presidium member.

Among others, Awami League Presidium Member Matia Chowdhury, Bangladesher Samyabadi Dal General Secretary Dilip Barua, Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) President Rezwanul Huq Chowdhury Shovon, Bangladesh Film Development Corporation (BFDC) Managing Director Pijush Bandyopadhyay, Deputy Speaker of the parliament Md Fazle Rabbi Miah and Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Shramik Federation President Shahjahan Khan also spoke at the rally.