Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Dr Md Shafiqur Rahman has questioned the home minister’s role in maintaining law and order, saying his primary responsibility should be to oversee his own ministry rather than serve all ministries.
“We are fortunate to have a home minister who serves all ministries. Yet his primary duty is to look after his own ministry. He has failed to control drugs or weapons, nor has he been able to restore order in society. There has been no visible improvement in the law and order situation in the country,” he said.
He made the remarks while exchanging views with journalists at the Moulvibazar Circuit House at 11am on Saturday during a 1-day organizational visit to his home district. It was his first visit to Moulvibazar since the national parliamentary election, drawing considerable enthusiasm among local party leaders and activists.
Speaking about the ongoing political situation, the Jamaat ameer questioned whether the opposition should remain silent amid successive incidents.
“Will we just sit back as one incident after another takes place? Will history forgive us? Why should the opposition take responsibility for the government's mistakes?” he said.
Shafiqur also criticized the appointment of political figures to district councils and alleged politicization of the Public Service Commission (PSC). He questioned why administrative officials had not been temporarily assigned responsibility for district councils instead of political figures.
Referring to past political practices, he said: “We have seen in the past that the government would even decide who would become the president and secretary of the opposition party. The media also helped create fascists, so the media must now work properly.”
Criticizing government statements on the law and order situation, the Jamaat ameer said: “Those in charge of the Home Ministry and important figures in the government often say that the law and order situation is ‘better than before’. But to this day, we have not understood what the benchmark for this ‘better than before’ is.”
Asked about Jamaat's participation in local government elections, he said the decision would depend on the political environment and circumstances.
“Nothing can be said with certainty without assessing the situation. The entire matter will depend on the political environment and circumstances,” he said.
Taking a swipe at the condition of roads between Dhaka and Sylhet, Rahman said: “There is no need to go to the Bay of Bengal to experience waves; you can experience the waves of the Bay of Bengal simply by travelling from Dhaka to Sylhet.”
He also outlined his party's position as the main opposition party, saying it would neither disrupt parliament to create instability nor blindly support every decision of the ruling party.
“As the main opposition party, we will adopt neither of these 2 positions: disrupting parliament to create instability or blindly supporting every decision of the ruling party,” he said.
Earlier, Rahman arrived at Sylhet Osmani International Airport at 8am, where senior leaders, including Jamaat's central assistant secretary general Ahsanul Mahboob Zubair, Sylhet metropolitan ameer Fakhrul Islam and Moulvibazar district ameer Engineer Shahed Ali, welcomed him.
He reached the Moulvibazar Circuit House at 9am, where a police contingent presented him with a guard of honor. He later delivered the chief guest's address at a conference for responsible ward leaders at the District Shilpakala Academy.
After Zuhr prayers, Rahman held a courtesy meeting with local leaders of the 11-party alliance at the Circuit House and attended a lunch.
At 2pm, a rukun conference was held at the Shilpakala Academy, attended by 600 rukons, to elect the Moulvibazar district ameer for the 2027–2028 session. Rahman addressed the conference as the chief guest, while Sylhet district ameer Maulana Habibur Rahman conducted the event.