Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami expressed deep concern, strong condemnation and protest at the speech given by Nilofar Chowdhury Moni, leader of BNP and Member of Parliament for reserved women’s seat.
Advocate Ehsanul Mahbub Zubair, Assistant Secretary General of the party and Secretary of the Central Publicity and Media Department, condemned this in a statement on Saturday.
According to the statement, recently in a private television talk show, BNP leader and Member of Parliament for reserved women’s seat, Nilofar Chowdhury Moni, neglected one of the obligatory laws and sacred worship of Islam, Zakat, and compared it to a heinous crime like extortion. This statement of his is not only sad, but it is a serious blow to the religious sentiments of crores of Muslims in the country. Zakat is one of the five pillars of Islam, which is a great provision for establishing economic balance in society, alleviating poverty and ensuring the rights of the needy.
On the other hand, extortion is a symbol of oppression, injustice and crime. To conflate these two or to present extortion as somehow good is a sign of extreme irresponsibility and audacity. I express deep concern and strongly condemn and protest his statement.
The leader of Jamaat-e-Islami also said that the people of the country have been seeking an end to oppression, corruption and extortion for a long time. After the mass uprising of the students, the public expected that a just and non-terrorist political culture would be established in Bangladesh. But it is a matter of great regret that there are still attempts to indirectly legitimize extortion from various quarters. Such statements encourage criminality in the society and create confusion in the public mind.
Advocate Ehsanul Mahbub Zubair said that according to the prevailing laws of Bangladesh, hurting religious sentiments is a punishable offence. So Nilofar Chowdhury Moni should immediately retract his statement and apologize to the nation unconditionally. At the same time, he called upon the concerned political parties to present their clear position on this matter.
He also demanded the administration to properly investigate the incident and take necessary legal action.
