Wear burqa at colleges, universities
Women have to wear burqas if they want to go to colleges and universities and those institutes have to be run by women, Hefajat-e Islam's chief Allama Ahmed Shafi said in a statement yesterday.
The statement signed by Shafi which was sent to the media yesterday claimed that his speech on Friday in an annual gathering of Darul Ulum Moinul Islam Madrasha at Hathazari upazila was “distorted with an ill-intention”.
In an audio clip of the sermon obtained by this newspaper, Shafi, 99, can be heard making the gathering promise to not send their daughters to schools and colleges.
“Don't send your daughters to school, college. At most, you can allow them to study up to class IV or V, so that they can maintain their husbands' accounts and can write letters to them,” he had said, during his one-and-a-half-hour sermon.
The comment drew criticism from people from all walks of life.
In yesterday's statement, however, the Hefajat chief urged all to ensure a safe condition where women could obtain an education. He also said no guardian could force their daughter to go where it was not safe.
“Islam brought back dignity for women. If we read the dailies, we see women being raped, murdered and stalked. It won't stop until moral values are acquired,” Shafi said.
A quarter is out to tarnish my image and paint me as a misogynist who is hostile to women's education, the statement read.
“Try to understand the core of my messages. Don't falsify my sermons. It is an offence to distort anyone's speech when you don't understand what they really wanted to mean,” Shafi said in the statement, adding that the sermons should not be interpreted without knowing the context.
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