Qawmi Madrasa in Capital: Hefajat’s Mamunul, brother lose sway

Control of the Jamia Arabia Madrasa, one of the largest Qawmi madrasas in the country, was yesterday handed over to the new Waqf committee from the hands of former Hefajat-e-Islam leader Mamunul Haque and his brother Mahfuzul Haque.

Mamunul, former joint secretary general of Hefajat, has been in jail since April in different cases, including the mayhem the outfit unleashed in late March while protesting Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Bangladesh.

A court under the Waqf Estate had recently issued a rule to hand over the madrasa in the capital's Mohammadpur to the new 21-member Waqf committee.

Mahfuzul Haque was the muhtamim (principal) of the madrasa and also the secretary general of Bangladesh Qawmi Madrasa Education Board(Befaq).

Mamunul was the madrasa's main mufti.

In presence of members of police and various intelligence agencies, Md Abdul Awal, executive magistrate of the Dhaka deputy commissioner's office, handed over control to the new committee around 2:30pm yesterday.

On behalf of the committee, Mohammad Abdur Rahim, motowalli of the Waqf Estate Committee, took charge of the madrasa, which has around 4,000 students in three branches -- two in Mohammadpur and one in Basila.

Sensing they are going to lose control of the madrasa, Mahfuzul, along with students and teachers who follow him, left the madrasa around 9:45am locking all entrances of the educational institution, eyewitnesses said.

Police personnel were deployed in and around the madrasa premises as a tense situation was prevailing among students and teachers.

Officials of the Dhaka deputy commissioner's office, led by Executive Magistrate Abdul Awal, entered the madrasa with police around 12:00pm.

At that time, police prevented journalists from taking pictures of their activities.

Recently, the Bangladesh Waqf Administration sent a letter to the Dhaka deputy commissioner asking that the property of Jamia Rahmania Arabia Madrasa be handed over to the approved committee of the Waqf Estate.

Jamia Rahmania Arabia is one of the most famous Qawmi madrasas of the country. Established in 1986, the madrasa is registered with the waqf administration.

Azizul Haque, father of Mahfuzul and Mamunul, took control of the madrasa after the BNP-led four-party alliance came to power in 2001.

Since then, the Waqf Estate has been fighting a legal battle to regain management of the madrasa. They failed due to pressure from the BNP-led four-party government despite the court verdict and the order of the waqf administration in favour of the waqf committee, insiders at the madrasa said. .

The government launched a crackdown against a section of Hefajat leaders, including Mamunul, following Hefajat's violent protest in March.

Several hundred leaders, including many central ones, of Hefajat, were arrested.

Amid the government pressure, Hefajat on April 25 dissolved its central committee.

This month, a 33-member new committee of Hefajat was announced, dropping all leaders involved in the violent protests across the country in March.

Mamunul and other leaders currently in jail for their alleged involvement in the violent activities were not given any post in the committee.