Leaders of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami have said they will not apologize for assisting Pakistani occupation forces during the 1971 Liberation War, despite rising criticism from different quarters and the resignation of several Jamaat leaders.
Meanwhile, leaders of the party also said they were planning to form a new party, as Jamaat’s registration with the Election Commission has been cancelled.
Several leaders of Jamaat, including former assistant secretary general Barrister Abdur Razzaq, recently resigned while citing their failure to reform the party and make it apologize for its role during the Liberation War.
In addition to being a former assistant secretary general, Razzaq had also represented Jamaat leaders accused of war crimes in the International Crimes Tribunal as chief defence council.
When asked about the party’s response to the demand for an apology, Jamaat Nayeb-e-Ameer Mia Golam Parowar told the Dhaka Tribune: “We do not agree to the demand. We also disagree with the reasons for the assistant secretary general’s resignation, and do not consider them to be valid.”
Parwar also confirmed that Jamaat has already formed a high profile five-member committee, headed by Secretary General Dr Shafiqur Rahman and including Parwar himself, to float a new party.
When asked when the new party would be floated, the Jamaat leader said it was yet to be decided.
A string of resignations
In his resignation letter sent to Jamaat Ameer Maqbul Ahmed on February 15, Abdur Razzaq said he had repeatedly attempted to make leaders of the party apologize for its role in 1971, and adopt successful models of reform that have been implemented in other Muslim majority countries. However, his efforts were in vain.
Since February 15, at least six Jamaat leaders have stepped down, asking the party to offer an apology for its role during the Liberation War. Another leader, Jamaat Dhaka city unit Majlis-e-Shura member and former Islami Chhatra Shibir president Mojibur Rahman Monju, was ousted from the party for seconding the demand in a Facebook post.
Abdul Halim, who is among the six leaders that have resigned, said: “We have long been following Jamaat’s policies. But the current context of the country made us realize that the party is against the spirit of Bangladesh’s liberation.”
Halim, who quit as the president of Jamaat’s Giddi Union unit at Gaibandha sadar upazila, said the party is still associated with anti-liberation forces.
“Considering the overall situation, we have willingly bid adieu to the party. From now on ( February 18), we are severing ties with Jamaat,” said Halim, who resigned alongside three other local Jamaat leaders.
A day after Abdur Razzaq’s resignation, Jamaat issued a nationwide emergency notice ordering its leaders and activists not to follow in the former assistant secretary general’s footsteps.
The notice also announced that Jamaat would form a new party with the aim of regaining its registration with the Election Commission.
