Bangladesh:Ban Jamaat, Hefazat by Dec: Shahriar Kabir

Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee President Shariar Kabir on Friday demanded the banning of Jamaat-e- Islami and Hifazat-e-Islam Bangladesh within December to uphold the achievements of the Liberation War. “Jamaat and qaumi madrasa based Islamist organisation Hifajat-e- Islam should be banned as political parties in Bangladesh within December to save the country,” demanded Shariar Kabir while speaking at the Ganajagaran Mancha at Shabag intersection in the capital. Ganajagarn Mancha is a platform formed immediately after an International Crimes Tribunal handed down life imprisonment to Jamaat leader Quader Mollah on February 5. The Mancha on Friday vowed to continue movement until all war criminals are tried and the verdicts are executed. At the programme, Shahriar Kabir also claimed that Jamaat has waged war against the country to avenge Pakistan’s defeat and to stop the trial of war criminals. “The government should deploy army to resist them” Kabir said. He said that Jamaat, accused of atrocities during the 1971 Liberation War, should not be allowed to pursue politics in the country as the High Court cancelled the party’s registration. Shahriar Kabir further said that no foreign conspiracy could foil the trial of war criminals. Earlier, on June 27, the High Court declared Jamaat’s registration with the Election Commission ‘illegal and void’. The party had immediately challenged the verdict and sought a stay on the verdict. However, the Chamber Judge of the Supreme Court turned down Jamaat’s petition for a stay on the verdict. On Thursday, Jamaat appealed to the Supreme Court against the HC verdict that declared its registration illegal.