District Correspondent, Sylhet: Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami, Dr. Shafiqur Rahman, has said that the country belongs to all of us. Therefore, we want to live here with dignity and peace. Over the past 15 years, we have endured various forms of oppression and persecution. This came to an end on August 5. On that very night, I called upon all my colleagues in the party, for the sake of Allah, not to seek revenge on anyone. I conveyed the same message to the nation.
Dr. Shafiq made these remarks on Tuesday afternoon as the chief guest at a meeting with Hindu community members at the municipal hall of Moulvibazar’s Kulaura Upazila. The meeting was organized by Jamaat-e-Islami Kulaura Upazila as part of the party’s nationwide mass contact program.
He said, “You may remember that Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader had said that if their government falls, at least 500,000 people would be killed. If such a thing were to happen, one or two people would have been killed in every village. But this did not happen. Vengeance and retribution can never bring peace.”
Addressing the Hindu community, Dr. Shafiqur Rahman said, “Whether we assume state responsibility or not, we are with you and will remain with you. Who will take state responsibility and who will not is a matter that Allah will decide. That decision will be made for those who win a place in people’s hearts. It is not something to be seized by force. Those who seize it by force become humiliated and dishonored. They fail to serve the state properly and are humiliated and disgraced at every step. After August 5, Jamaat leaders and activists guarded the houses of minorities. None of our leaders or activists were involved in any such acts.”
Speaking to non-Muslims, he said, “In the future, if any oppressor commits injustice against you, protest and resist, and keep us with you. We do not want anyone to suffer from oppression, to live in pain, or to leave their beloved homeland. I want to live in my birthplace with honor. Those who committed these crimes in the past should be identified, and justice should be ensured so that everyone gets their rightful due.”
The Jamaat Ameer further stated, “If any wrongdoing or crime has occurred, a case will be filed. It is the responsibility of the plaintiff to prove the crime. If they can prove it, the criminal will be punished according to the country’s constitution. Who am I to take the law into my own hands? Taking the law into one’s own hands to kill, assault, loot, or set houses on fire—has the state given me this right? It has not given it to anyone.”
The meeting was presided over by Kulaura Upazila Ameer Professor Abdul Muntazim and moderated by Secretary Belal Ahmad Chowdhury. Special guests included Sylhet Metropolitan Jamaat Ameer Md. Fakhrul Islam, Sylhet District Ameer Maulana Habibur Rahman, Moulvibazar District Jamaat Ameer Engineer Shahed Ali, and Secretary Yamir Ali.
Other speakers included Dr. Arunab Dey, President of Kulaura Puja Celebration Committee; General Secretary Ajay Das; member Ashok Dhar; Soumya Pradeep Bhattacharya, former principal of Kulaura Degree College; and Kulaura Municipal Puja Celebration Committee Convener Bichitra Dey.
