Criticising him severely for terming the Biswa Ijtema, the second largest congregation of Muslims after Hajj, a “picnic,” Islamic scholars as well as people in social media have demanded exemplary punishment to Supreme Court lawyer Tuhin Malik.
“The audacity he [Tuhin] has shown by terming the Biswa Ijtema a picnic is unpardonable,” Farid Uddin Masud, the imam of Sholakia Eid congregation, told a views exchange meeting in the capital’s Iqra auditorium in Khilgaon yesterday.
“The Tuhins are slaves of Jamaat-e-Islami. His remarks go against not only the Ijtema but also the image of the country. He must be punished as per the law,” said Masud, who is also the chairman of Jamiat-e-Ulama Bangladesh.
Asking the government and the 20-party alliance to not hindering the devotees from observing the Ijtema, Masud said: “It is an honour for the whole Bangladesh.”
Among others, Dhaka University teacher Maulana Husainul Banna and Maulana Arif Uddin Maruf also spoke at the function.
The three-day Ijtema, organised by Tabligh Jamaat, begins today amid the BNP-led 20-party’s indefinite blockade. The second phase of Ijtema will be held on January 16-18.
Tuhin was recently summoned by a Dhaka court for making “derogatory” remarks about Islam, Bangladesh’s constitution and Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman at a meeting in London.
Jamaat, however, has demanded withdrawal of the “false” case, filed by a Chhatra League leader, terming it politically motivated.
Earlier, former Awami League minister Abdul Latif Siddique was sacked from the cabinet and the party for criticising Hajj.
Condemnation in social media website Facebook also reached high soon after Tuhin’s alleged remarks he made at a talk show on private television channel ETV on January 5.
Asking the BNP-led 20-party’s indefinite blockade not to postpone the programme, Tuhin reportedly said: “It will not be proper to suspend movement for the Biswa Ijtema. Islam will not be benefited if some people hold picnic on the bank of Turag River [in Tongi] while putting Pharaohs at the helm [of the country].
“Rather it will further strengthen the position of the Pharaohs while mosques-madrasas will be shut, Islami literature be seized in the name of jihadi books and the scholars be hanged.”
