Abdullahil Amaan Azmi, son of late war criminal Ghulam Azam, has said the BNP will never be able to go to power again without Jamaat-e-Islami’s support, triggering a heated debate among the supporters of the two political allies in social media.
Labelling the BNP as “ungrateful,” in a Facebook status on Wednesday, Azmi said he was disappointed with the party’s silence regarding the death of Ghulam Azam, the spiritual guru of Jamaat.
Along with the status, he shared a news item titled “BNP boycotts Azam’s funeral prayer upon Tarique’s order” picked up from a website named “dailybdnews.net.”
He began the status asking: “CAN ANYONE CONFIRM THIS NEWS ITEM???”
Then he wrote: “The whole nation is disappointed at BNP’s silence after Prof Ghulam Azam expired although the entire world is mourning. I’m not sure why!!
“I have NO hesitation in saying that BNP could never form govt without Jamaat’s support. Sadly enough, their silence on the death of the founder Ameer of the party, and spiritual Guru till his death, is utterly unexpected and unacceptable!
“BNP will do better if they remember that they can NEVER go to power again without Jamaat’s support. This is my ‘open challenge’.
“How ungrateful they can be!!!” Azmi wrote.
As of filing of this report around 8:30pm yesterday, the status fetched 606 likes and 279 comments and was shared 151 times.
The Dhaka Tribune contacted BNP Standing Committee member Mahbubur Rahman and Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, but both declined to make any comments in this regard.
However, a mid-ranked but influential leader of the party told the Dhaka Tribune requesting anonymity: “Azmi should not have written that. This status can mean a lot of things. Ghulam Azam’s son thanked the government for allowing them to perform janaza without any hassle. Therefore, the BNP top brass should charge the leaders of Jamaat for that.”
A joint secretary general of the party said: “It [the status] gives many hints as Azmi is a key figure in Jamaat.”
When contacted over the phone, Azmi said: “It is not a political statement. My intention was not to create any debate or misunderstanding. I will soon post another status regarding this.”
When asked why he termed BNP ungrateful, Azmi said: “Over the last few days, I have been facing thousands of queries from people about BNP’s silence [regarding Azam’s death]. That is what the people at the grassroots think. I also believe it.”
He said: “Some BNP men used abusive words and scolded me. It is their taste and I do not want to say anything about it. And as I am not involved with Jamaat’s politics, it is tough for me to get any reaction from Jamaat.”
He also said he had written that BNP could not go to power without Jamaat’s support because he believed it.
Asked what his future plans were, Azmi said: “I have been working on child education since 2001. I call it vision 2025 and want to continue doing it. I do not want to get involved in politics.”
The heated debate
Most of the 279 comments posted for the status were either from the supporters of Jamaat or the BNP who tried to argue why their party was more important than the other.
Facebook user Wasim Akram wrote that BNP’s Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman would have to face harsh consequences if he had really instructed BNP men to not attend Ghulam Azam’s funeral prayer.
Sabbir Ahmed wrote: “What more do you expect from such a weak party [the BNP]?”
Rabi Ul Islam writes: “If they call Ghulam Azam ‘Go Azam’ then why should we not call Tarique “Tarikka Chora,” “Khamba Tarique” because both these names were given by the Awami League.”
Tuku Zamil, a supporter of BNP, says: “It [the news report] is not true, many BNP leaders joined the janaza.”
Jaber Boutrous wrote: “So does that mean Jamaat has formed an open alliance with BAL [Bangladesh Awami League]? In that case JI [Jamaat-e-Islami] will be making a mistake. These mistakes of criticising the BNP will target JI as a munafiq in the long run when you desperately need alliance between the two.”
Salamat Ullah wrote: “As a former BNP student activist, the silence of BNP hurts me. As a fellow Muslim, whatever differences we have in this world, we do not take it to the hereafter, we wish each other well and forgive each other. This is the spirit of Muslim brotherhood. If the leaders are not aware of this spirit, they have no right to be leaders of the Muslim community.”
Redwanul Islam wrote: “BNP can NEVER go to power again without Jamaat’s support. This is also my ‘open challenge’.”
AKM Khalek wrote: “BNP is power hungry, so it can do [almost] anything for power.”
Faisal Alim, son of war criminal Abdul Alim and a BNP leader from Joypurhat, said he believed the news was wrong because there was no reason for BNP men to not attend Azam’s janaza.
Munna wrote: “You [Azmi] proved that Jamaat is a party of cattle. You should not have posted such a statement. It is a completely baseless news. Being the son of a leader of an Islamic party, you should be ashamed for spreading false news.”
Addressing Azmi, Facebook user Kalpurush wrote: “Dear Mr Azmi! Your father could enter this country because of Zia. Jamaat is doing politics today also because of Zia. But when Zia was killed in 1981, your father or for that matter nobody from Jamaat went to attend his janaza, let alone expressed condolences.”
Imtiaz Amin Abir wrote: “Even 50 years is not enough for the BNP to make up for the loss that it had suffered by tying up with Jamaat. Begum Khaleda Zia has to face grilling from foreign diplomats because of what you [Jamaat men] do. You stage violence and the BNP has to give the answers.”
Rakte-e-Chhatra Dal wrote: “Hasina wanted sons like you in Digital Bangladesh who thank the government even after people throw shoes at your father’s coffin.”