Hefazat leader sues slain student's father over 'religious sentiment'

Rafiur Rabbi, a cultural personality in Narayanganj, has been sued by a leader of radical Islamist group Hefazat-e-Islam for allegedly hurting religious sentiment. Mawlana Ferdousur Rahman, coordinator of Hefazat’s Narayanganj unit, filed the case against with the court of Narayanganj Chief Judicial Magistrate Ashok Kumar Dutta on Wednesday. “After hearing and accepting the case, the court ordered Detective Branch to submit a report following a probe,” said Public Prosecutor Wazed Ali Khokon. On April 7, during the 25th anniversary of local cultural organisation "Shrutee," Rabbi, the father of slain schoolboy Tanvir Mohammad Toki, delivered a speech “offending” religious beliefs of the Muslims, the plaintiff’s lawyer Sultan Ul Arefin said in the case statement. He said: “In his statement Rabbi said freedom fighters would have not taken part in the 1971 Liberation War had they known that the country’s constitution would start with Bismillah.” The plaintiff complained: “The remark was tantamount to offending the Muslims’ religious sentiments.”