After a year of relative silence on the public stage, the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami held a well-attended public event on Wednesday at a city hotel.
The right wing political party, which opposed the birth of Bangladesh in 1971, hosted an Iftar party in honour of foreign diplomats at the Westin Hotel at which the press was also invited.
Since the closing of the party’s central office after the Awami League-led grand alliance government assumed office, Jammat leaders and activists have assumed a low profile.
The party has issued press releases highlighting their activities but none were invited to their programmes. The last public event they held was a similar iftar party held last Ramadan.
Many of the party’s leaders have been on trial for crimes against humanity. Some have been convicted and one has been hanged.
The party’s violent programme of street protests last year drew widespread criticism from both inside and outside the country.
Interestingly, members of the BNP or the BNP-led alliance were not present at the event. Jamaat is a key component of the BNP-led alliance.
A number of foreign diplomats including Palestinian Ambassador and Dean of the Diplomatic Core Shaher Muhammad, US Ambassador Dan W Mozena, Saudi Ambassador D. Abdullah Bin Nassar Al Bushairi, Turkish Ambassador Hoseyin Muftuoglu, Egyptian Ambassador Muhammad Izzat, Ambassador of Norway Maridi Landimo, Deputy British High Commissioner Nick Low, Deputy High Commissioner of Australia Lucinda Bell, US Deputy Chief of Mission Jon F Danilowicz, Deputy Head of Mission of Qatar Khalid ZBook Antiquaaid S Al-Mahmoud, Deputy Chief of Mission of Canada Daniel Lutfi, and representatives of Pakistan, Indonesia, Iran, Oman, Libya, Brunei, Russia, Japan, India, Vietnam and South Korea attended the Iftar party.
Deputy Ameer of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Prof Mujibur Rahman, Dr Syed Abdullah Md Taher, Advocate Jasim Uddin Sarker, Acting Central Publicity Secretary Matiur Rahman Akanda, and City Working Committee Member Mobarak Hossain were among the Jamaat leaders present at the occasion.
Prior to the iftar, Deputy Ameer of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Prof Mujibur Rahman delivered a brief speech.