Claiming the death of Shah Ahmad Shafi as natural, chief of Qawmi madrasa-based radical Islamist platform Juanyed Babunagari said the case filed on charge of killing Shafi is a political conspiracy.
He said this while speaking at a press conference at Hathazari Madrasa Auditorium on Wednesday.
Al-Jamiatul Ahlia Darul Ulum Moinul Islam, also known as Hathazari Madrasa and Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh jointly organized the press conference.
Nurul Absar Azhari, Science and Technology Affairs Secretary of Hefazat-e-Islam and teacher of Hathazari Madrasa read out the written statement in the press conference.
“Allama Shafi’s death was natural. However, we have observed that a quarter has resorted to falsehood over the death of Shafi. Three months after his death, the vested quarter lodged a fabricated case. The case is a political conspiracy and it was lodged only to destabilize the country,” said Babunagari.
Babunagari further said that the reasons mentioned in the murder case were exaggerated and politically motivated.
During the press conference, the Hefazat leaders said that the murder case was filed to harass them.
A quarter established a one-man rule in the Madrasa after holding Allama Shafi hostage. The students were harassed and tortured and even some reputed teachers of the institutions were sacked illegally. Inflamed by the tyranny, the students were compelled to wage a movement to press home their legitimate demands, they said.
The Hefazat leaders also threatened to take tough programs if the case is not withdrawn immediately.
On December 17, brother-in-law of Hefazat’s found Shah Ahmad Shafi filed a murder case with a Chittagong court.
Taking its cognizance, the court ordered the Police Bureau of Investigation (PBI) to investigate the case.
A total of 36 persons including Hefazat’s central Joint Secretary General Mamunul Haque were made accused in the murder case. According to the case document, Shafi, despite his illness, was confined to Hathazari Madrasa and the accused vandalized his room.
The ambulance carrying Shafi was obstructed and In’amul Hasan Faruqi played the key role in it. Shafi was mentally tortured and his oxygen mask was removed during the unrest at Hathazari Madrasa.
Shafi died while undergoing treatment at Asgar Ali Hospital in the capital on September 18. Shafi was the director general of Al-Jamiatul Ahlia Darul Ulum Moinul Islam, also known as the Hathazari Madrasa.
Hefazat was formed in 2010 and came to prominence by mobilizing opposition to the Shahbagh Movement in early 2013. It was then that its leaders issued their now infamous 13-point charter, which included demands for death penalty for atheists and certain restrictions on social gathering between men and women.