A case seeking Tk500 crore in compensation has been filed against 12 individuals, including Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh chief Maulana Mohibullah Babunagari and Jatiya Masjid Baitul Mukarram’s Khatib Mufti Mohammad Abdul Malek, for allegedly spreading defamatory remarks against Maulana Saad Kandhalvi.
The case was lodged by Zubair Hossain, a follower of Maulana Saad, in a Dhaka court on Sunday. Advocate Khan Mohammad Morshed, the plaintiff’s lawyer, confirmed the matter to the media on Monday.
The court has accepted the application and scheduled a hearing on January 14.
According to the case statement, the defendants made derogatory and defamatory remarks against Maulana Saad during a gathering at Suhrawardy Udyan on November 5.
The event, held under Shahbagh police station, saw clerics accuse Maulana Saad of being a "Qadiani" (a pejorative term used to label members of the Ahmadiyya community) and claim that his followers were "infidels, murtads (apostates), and illegitimate."
The defendants also allegedly declared that Maulana Saad’s followers were divorced from their spouses simply by association with him.
These statements were reportedly made to discredit Maulana Saad among pious Muslims and to create division within the religious community.
The complaint states that the remarks, widely disseminated through newspapers, online media, and social platforms, caused psychological trauma and humiliation among Maulana Saad’s supporters.
The lawsuit accuses the defendants of conspiring to mislead the public and young madrasa students through fabricated and baseless allegations.
It also alleges that the defamatory statements were part of a calculated effort to tarnish the reputation of an Islamic thinker and to hinder the propagation of true Islamic teachings.
The plaintiff has claimed that the defamatory remarks disrupted social harmony and led to the harassment of Maulana Saad’s followers.
The lawsuit seeks to hold the defendants accountable for the resulting damages and compensate for the distress caused.