Amir of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Dr. Shafiqur Rahman addressed the countrymen in the presence of a large number of journalists in a press conference organized on August 6 about the overall situation in the country. The conference was chaired by Central Executive Council Member and Secretary Central Publicity and Media Department Advocate Matiur Rahman Akand and among others, Naib Ameer and former MP Professor Mujibur Rahman and Maulana Anam Shamsul Islam, Acting Secretary General Maulana ATM Ma’chum, Assistant Secretary General Maulana were present in the conference. Rafiqul Islam Khan, Mr. Hamidur Rahman Azad, former MP, Maulana Abdul Halim, Central Executive Council Member and Amir of Dhaka Metropolitan South Mr. Nurul Islam Bulbul, Central Executive Council Member and Amir of Dhaka Metropolitan North Mr. Salim Uddin, Central Executive Council Member Mr. Abdur Rob etc.
The speech given by the Ameer of the organization Dr. Shafiqur Rahman to the countrymen is given below:-
“Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
Dear journalist friends,
Assalamu Alaikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh.
As you know, from the first week of July, our youth students started a movement demanding a specific right for them to reform the quota system in government jobs. A peaceful movement developed around this issue. The countrymen all agreed that their demands were reasonable and just. Many people including students were killed in this movement. Thousands of students were injured. Many people, including students, have gone missing. We do not have the power to return missing people to their families. I express my deepest condolences and condolences to those who gave their lives in this movement. I pray to Almighty Allah to accept them as martyrs. Thank you to those who sacrificed. This change of the nation is the result of the mercy of Almighty Allah. For this we are thanking Almighty Allah. May God bless those who are injured and undergoing treatment.
Journalist friends,
very sad, we all know this government ruled the country for almost 16 years. He was forced to abdicate on August 5 in public outcry and left the country without giving any direction to the nation. In this movement of the students, the general public, young and old, men and women have all been involved. People from all walks of life have been oppressed in one way or another by the tyrannical government. Citizens spontaneously took to the streets out of pent-up anger. This movement of students was peaceful. But due to the provocative speech of some, miscreants started vandalizing cities-ports-villages. Government buildings, houses of opponents and places of worship of different religions have been attacked in some areas. There was vandalism and looting and arson. A sane person cannot do these things. We have condemned these miscreants several times and are still doing so today. In this situation, we have called upon the countrymen as well as the manpower of our organization at all levels to play the role of guardians in protecting the property of all religious people. No one is majority or minority in our country. All those who are born in this country, regardless of caste, religion and caste, are citizens of this country and all have equal rights. Here everyone shines in their own being. So the question of majority or minority is unanswerable. I once again appeal to the countrymen through you to crack down on mischief wherever you see it. We are ready to give full cooperation to the administration. We have already communicated our commitment to the responsible officials at all levels of the organization by communicating with their respective administrations to cooperate in this regard. Alhamdulillah, since last night, our leaders have fulfilled this call and started performing their proper duties across the country. It is not possible for our organization alone to stop all mischief in this country of 56 thousand square miles. In this regard, people from all levels of the country including the administration must have a responsible role. If we as a whole society and administration can work together, it is definitely possible to stop this evil. Those involved in this vandalism and mischief must be brought under the law and severely punished.
Journalist friends,
this country is ours. Our diaspora brothers have stopped sending remittances to the country out of anger. Stopping remittances is not discouraged by our organization. How can we live if the country does not exist. Therefore, our call to expatriates and businessmen, let us build the devastated country together and fulfill our responsibilities as conscious citizens.
Dear brothers, I would like to end my speech here for today. Thank you very much for your valuable time. We hope that in the coming days, we will make a united effort to build this nation together with our journalist friends. As you know yesterday His Excellency the President sat with the political parties. There we presented some demands. He accepted many of the demands as reasonable and implemented some of them. One of our big demands was to form an interim government very quickly to overcome this crisis in the country. Before this, the national parliament must be dissolved. He has promised us that he will dissolve parliament and form an interim government soon.
Respected brothers,
we strongly demand that His Excellency the President dissolve the parliament and start the process of establishing the interim government as soon as possible. And I call upon the interim government that has been formed to move forward without delay to establish a genuine people’s government through a meaningful national election. Thank you again.