President Abdul Hamid today invited three more political parties to have a dialogue with him at the Bangabhaban over the formation of next election commission.
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M A Hossain
Hefazat-e-Islam(HI) in Bangladesh was established in 2010 as a countermeasure to thwart the enactment of the Women’s Development Policy Bill that proposed equal inheritance rights to women. Hefazat-e-Islam, which means”protector of Islam” claims itself to be an apolitical organisation predicating on the hypothesis that they do not take part in the national electoral politics; however, quite the contrary, it has emerged as an important Dramatis Personae in Bangladeshi politics because of the present political context. This organisation is based on nationwide Qawmi Madrasas which is teaching and preaching Orthodox Islam. It has become the centre of attention of major political parties to materialise their interests from its heyday at Shapla Chattar in 2013. Due to my professional reason, I was well aware of this platform and I will dissect its reasons to crash in 2021.
Banned militant outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad (Huji) is back, this time in the garb of Hefajat-e-Islam, according to intelligence reports of multiple agencies, including the police.
Huji was found to be involved in the three-day Hefajat mayhem that was carried out across the country from March 26 to March 28 in protest against the visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi . It [the mayhem] was actually a planned activity of Huji, according to an official of an intelligence agency.
Talking to The Daily Star, several law enforcers investigating the mayhem said leaders of Huji, which was banned in 2005 following the grisly grenade attack on an Awami League rally that killed 22 people, from which Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina narrowly escaped, a year earlier, started to gather under the Hefajat umbrella. It managed to gain some control over the Qwami madrasa-based organisation recently.
Meet With Home Boss: Hefajat sticks to its stance on sculpture
Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal. File photo
Calling sculptures anti-Islamic, Qawmi madrasa-based clerics, many of whom are Hefajat leaders, have proposed that the government construct minarets instead of sculptures of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.
Led by Mahmudul Hasan, chairman of madrasa education board (Befaq), a 12-member delegation came up with the proposal at a meeting with Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan at his residence in the capital on Monday night.
Coming out of the hour-long meeting, Hefajat-e Islam Nayeb-e-Amir Ataullah Hafezzi termed it fruitful. He claimed that the minister did not oppose their argument against the establishment of sculptures or idols.