Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Dr. Shafiqur Rahman has expressed his determination to hand over the future of Bangladesh to the youth.
He said, “For 15 and a half years, we have fought many movements in stages. But we could not end that movement. We could not drive away tyranny, we could not send it away. I am proud that our children have done that. I give our children the gift of love. I pay tribute, I express gratitude. I salute them on behalf of the nation. With the help of Allah Almighty, they have achieved the impossible. The nation is proud to have such children. Insha Allah, we want to hand over the future Bangladesh to them.”
He made these remarks while speaking as the chief guest at a workers’ conference organized by the district Jamaat at the district government high school grounds on Saturday morning, December 21.
The conference was presided over by District Ameer Moulvibazar District Jamaat Ameer Engineer Md Shahed Ali. The program was conducted by District Jamaat Secretary Muhammad Yamir Ali and Assistant Secretary Harunur Rashid. Special guests included Central Assistant Secretary General Ed, Ehsanul Mahbub Zubair, Dhaka Metropolitan North Ameer and Central Executive Council Member Muhammad Selim Uddin, Sylhet Metropolitan Jamaat Ameer Md. Fakhrul Islam and Sylhet District Ameer Maulana Habibur Rahman.
Among others who spoke were Habiganj District Ameer and Central Majlish-e-Shura member Kazi Maulana Mukhlisur Rahman, former Moulvibazar District Ameer and Central Majlish-e-Shura member Dewan Sirajul Islam Mutlim and Abdul Mannan, Moulvibazar BNP District Branch Convener Faizul Kabir Mayun, Hefazat-e-Islami District Nayeb-e-Ameer Professor Maulana Abdus Sabur, Moulvibazar District Nayeb-e-Ameer Maulana Abdur Rahman, Chhatra Shibir Central Executive Council Member and Sylhet Metropolitan President Sharif Mahmud, Dhaka Metropolitan South Executive Council Member and Paltan Thana Ameer Shahin Ahmed Khan, District Executive Council Member Maulana Aminul Islam, Chhatra Shibir Moulvibazar City Branch President Tarek Aziz, Chhatra Shibir Moulvibazar District President Hafez Alam Hossain, and former Barelekha Upazila Ameer Md. Qamar. Uddin, Moulvibazar Municipal Branch Ameer and District Working Committee Member Hafez Maulana Tajul Islam, District Working Committee Member and Moulvibazar District Sadar Upazila Ameer Md. Fakhrul Islam, Barolekha Upazila Ameer Md. Emdadul Islam, Rajnagar Upazila Ameer Abur Rayyan Shahin, Kulaura Upazila Ameer Professor Abdul Muntazim, Juri Upazila Ameer Abdul Hai Helal, Sreemangal Upazila Ameer Mao. Ismail Hossain, Kamalganj Upazila Ameer Md. Masuk Mia.
Ameer-e-Jamaat Dr. Shafiqur Rahman, at the beginning of his speech, uttered a slogan of the brave soldiers of the July-August movement and said, ‘A storm is raging inside my chest, shoot me if you feel pain in my chest.’ Their anger was 15 and a half years old. During this time, they took away all the rights of the nation by sitting on its shoulders. They turned the country into a crematorium or a graveyard. He said, on October 28, 2006, they cried over the dead body. That’s when they announced that they would establish a state of murder and disappearances if they came to power. They won the election on December 29, 2008 through election engineering by collusion. On January 10, 2009, they took up a program to implement the addiction of murder.
He said, on February 25 and 26, they killed 57 smart army officers in Peelkhana. They broke the morale of the army. They destroyed the BDR force and dismissed 17,500 members of that force. They put 8,500 in jail. More than 350 people were in jail. Our proud army was destroyed. They used them as the last step to power and plotted to destroy them. The nation was not allowed to know who the murderers were. They were hidden. They took away the electricity in the dark of the night and made it dark, giving the murderers an opportunity to escape. Why did a plane from a particular country come to Dhaka? Then how did it suddenly disappear? Even if the autocratic government does not give an answer, they will have to give it to them one day. We want justice for that murder.
He further said, then their rampage began. They first targeted Jamaat-e-Islami; who were proven patriots, who impressed the countrymen with their honesty. All those leaders were hanged coldly, with a court set up on false charges, with witnesses who were deceived and with a verdict from Brussels. Some were put in jail and pushed to death little by little. They died in jail. We told all our political friends at that time that this was not just an attack on Jamaat. This was an attack on the independence and sovereignty of Bangladesh. If this huge wall of independence and sovereignty is broken, everyone else will be swept away, no one will be able to survive. Stand by us. We confront fascism collectively. We could not explain the words. We could not all fight that war together. The history that followed is clear before you. They caught everyone one by one. Even these journalist friends who came today to cover the news; They caught them too. They disappeared with us, killed them. They sent them to the mirror house. They took some of them to the border on the other side of India and threw them there. In this way, they turned the entire country into hell.
He mentioned that today the youth are saying that our votes were stolen. Three elections today, those who are 30-32 years old; they could not even cast a single vote. They created a grave for voting, for democracy. They must be tried on the soil of Bengal. Every injustice and crime must be tried. They have divided the nation for 53 years through fascism in different ways. The power of the pro-independence, the power of the anti-independence. The power of the majority. The power of the minority, how they have divided it – there is no telling how much. Because when a nation can be divided into pieces, then it is possible to make them slaves. They assumed that they are the owners of the country, we are all tenants.
He said to India, “I want to tell our neighboring countries – live in peace. Let us live in peace too. We don’t ask what you cook in your kitchen. Don’t try to peek into our kitchen. Look at yourself in the mirror. We don’t have to teach you lessons in harmony and peace.”
The Ameer-e-Jamaat mentioned, where our top 11 leaders have been murdered, all offices have been locked, our houses have been bulldozed, where our registration has been taken away, where we have been ostracized and finally banned. Despite the pain in our hearts, we have said that we love the country, we love the people.
The Ameer-e-Jamaat said, “We will build a Bangladesh of equality. We will send discrimination into exile. We will recognize merit. We will form a nation on the basis of meritocracy, not politicocracy. We will educate the youth with ideals and turn their hands into hands of workers.”
He expressed his anger and said, “Why is there no good university, medical college, engineering and agricultural university in Moulvibazar district? What crime has Moulvibazar committed?” Pointing to former Finance Minister M Saifur Rahman, he said, “The talented son of this district was a talented economist. He used to see the whole country equally.” He demanded that the next ECNEC should take a decision on allocating an educational institution in Moulvibazar and other development projects.
He said, Moulvibazar has the largest number of tea gardens in the country. Due to the lack of proper state monitoring, the tea industry is on the verge of collapse. The owners do not get the right price for tea. The workers also do not get paid. He highlighted four issues for the leaders and activists. Among these, he called on them to move forward in the realm of knowledge with determination and work hard with courage. Finally, he called on the nation to remain united to build a prosperous Bangladesh.
Ed. Ehsanul Mahbub Zubair said, no more conspiracy will be allowed to take root in this country. No more conspiracy will be allowed to succeed. He said, leaders and activists must play a historic and united role to build a new Bangladesh through reforms and elections. Calling on people to be vigilant about the allies of fascism, he further said, we cannot give the conspirators a chance anymore.
Ameer Muhammad Selim Uddin of Dhaka Metropolitan North said, “The students and the masses raised the slogan ‘We Want Justice’ because they understood the language of the minds of most of the people of this country and drove out the dictatorship through revolution. To build a new Bangladesh, we have to come out of the old ideology. We have to introduce a new style of politics in the country. To build Bangladesh as a prosperous country, it will not work to run the country with human laws. Those who ruled the country before exploited the rule of human laws and made corruption their main tool. Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has presented a model of everything including Islamic economics and politics to the people of the country in the last 53 years. We do not believe in speeches. We believe in deeds.” He emphasized that if Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami comes to power, no superpower will be able to turn a blind eye to the country. No more Felani’s body will hang on barbed wire. Everyone will be able to run their activities independently, InshaAllah.”