If banned, Jamaat to go underground: Muhith

AMA Muhit. Star file photo

Finance Minister AMA Muhith today said if Jamaat-e-Islami is banned through enacting a law, the fundamentalist party would go underground.

“They (Jamaat) are expert in killing,” Muhith told reporters after a meeting with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) managing board team at his secretariat office in Dhaka.

On the Jamaat enforced ongoing hartal to protest the Supreme Court verdict on Jamaat leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee, the finance minister said, “What have they called the hartal for. They do not believe in Bangladesh. Jamaat-e-Islami is a bloody party.”

When the reporters asked the minister whether the government has entered into an entente with Jamaat, Muhith became angry and said: “Rubbish. We discussed yesterday. How will Jamaat have talks with us? Jamaat has been spreading this and BNP is with them.”

On the meeting with ADB, Muhith said it has raised the issue of giving emphasis on private sector as the investment is low. Raising per capita income is not enough for becoming a middle income country.