Sajeeb Ahmed Wazed Joy has said that hardline group Hefazat-e-Islam, by opposing Bangabandhu’s statue, is playing the role that Jamaat-e-Islami played during the 1971 Liberation War.
The son and ICT Advisor to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina made the remarks while describing the achievements in the 12 years of the Awami League government’s “Digital Bangladesh” initiative at a webinar on Saturday to mark the fourth Digital Bangladesh Day.
“We have been taking Bangladesh forward to transform it into a modern, developing country,” he said.
“However, I’d like to conclude with a word of caution. There is a group that has raised its head in a bid to take the country backwards. They are threatening to transform Bangladesh into Afghanistan,” added Joy.
“What do we call them? We call them Razakar. There was the Jamaat in 1971, and now Hefazat-e-Islam is becoming the new Razakar,” he remarked.
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Hefazat-e-Islam and other radical Islamic groups are opposing a government plan to install statues of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in celebration of his birth centenary, citing that statues are forbidden in Islam.
Some political and cultural groups have responded by protesting against the Islamists’ threat to tear down statues, and demanded arrest of Islamist leaders for their offensive remarks about Bangabandhu.
“They dared to vandalize the statue of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu on his birth centenary. Attacking his statue means attacking the spirit of our independence. Those who stand against Bangladesh have carried out the attack,” said Joy, grandson of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
“Will we slip back into being that old country? No, we won’t let it happen as long as the Awami League is in power. I would like to say on behalf of the youth that we must eliminate this fundamentalist force.”
“We, Bangladesh Awami League, liberated the country and modernized it. We’ve made Bangladesh a developing country by confronting all the challenges. We know how to deal with the Razakar,” he furthered.
