A group of women rights activists Thursday denounced Hefazat-e-Islam chief Allama Shah Ahmed Shafi’s alleged statement about women at a religious congregation, urging him to withdraw his comments.
Actress and rights activist Rokeya Prachi, participating in a human chain, said: “A person of the stature of Allama Shafi can’t deliver such a speech. I strongly denounce his comments and urge him to withdraw that.”
“He seems to have forgotten that he too had been in the womb of a woman before his birth. This kind of attitude is an insult, an abomination to the entire womenfolk. Women were given rights in our constitution and in Islam too, but what Shafi said betrayed his regard to those rights.”
“I also demand his arrest as his was a crime graver than Ghulam Azam’s,” Prachi added.
Recently, a video clip showing the Hefazat chief speaking about women’s liberty, education and employment caused a social media storm, provoking outrage among women rights activists.
The human chain, which was formed in front of the National Press Club Thursday, was a reaction to that speech.
Referring to his remarks, Sanchalan Parisad General Secretary Gazi Enayet Hossain said Allama Shafi disparaged women’s employment in the country, “even though they are the ones who spin the wheel of its economy.”
“He tried to ostracise women by creating religious divide in the name of Hefazat. This speech hurt our religious sentiments as well,” Enayet said, adding they would go for “tougher movement” if Shafi does not withdraw his statement.
