Opposition Leader and Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Dr Shafiqur Rahman on Friday warned that attacks on his party leaders and activists would not be tolerated.
Speaking to journalists after visiting Jamaat leader Shamim Ahsan at the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation in the capital, he said Ahsan was undergoing treatment after being injured in an attack by miscreants.
Alluding to the suspected political affiliation of the “miscreants”, the Dhaka-15 MP said, “Politics should be the only language of politics.”
“We do not want to see such incidents anymore. We do not want anyone to hurt anyone, even with a petal of a flower. Politics should be conducted in the language of politics, not the language of terror.”
He alleged that people linked to the BNP and activists of its affiliated organisations were harassing people in various ways.
“Another person's leg had been broken earlier. There have also been attacks on homes, looting of shops and extortion through intimidation. We have a list of these incidents,” he said.
Regarding the attack on Shamim, a former assistant secretary of the party's Barguna district unit, he said he had phoned the ruling party's chief whip immediately after learning of the incident and urged a fair investigation.
Each party has its own ideology and programmes, he said, adding that Jamaat wanted a healthy and fair political environment.
Anyone with statements or complaints could raise them in the national parliament, he said, urging everyone to practise healthy politics.
“If legal steps are taken, then that’s fine. But otherwise, I cannot allow my party workers to come under attack while I sit in Dhaka. I will have to go to them,” he said.
He urged that any problems involving his party or its activists be discussed in Parliament.
“But why use fists when you can use words?”
Shafiqur also reiterated that his party wanted comprehensive constitutional reform, not “partial amendments” or changes driven by any one party’s interests.
Opposing what he described as fragmented initiatives, he said no law or amendment should be drafted with the interests of individual political parties in mind. Jamaat does not support the current government's move towards partial amendments, he said.
Ahsan had been removed from all organisational positions over remarks deemed offensive about the Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) in January.
During a public meeting in Patharghata upazila on January 25, Shamim said Dhaka University's central students' union was a drug den and brothel before Jamaat’s student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, swept the last election.
The remark prompted widespread protests. Jamaat later condemned it, saying it was inappropriate.