‘Akhtaruzzaman arrested for leaving BNP, not airport row’: Jamaat’s Porwar

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar on Saturday claimed that retired Major Akhtaruzzaman was arrested not over an altercation at Dhaka airport but because the BNP could not accept his decision to leave the party and join Jamaat.

“The main reason behind Major Akhtaruzzaman’s arrest is not the airport incident,” Porwar told a rally outside the north gate of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque in Dhaka.

He alleged that the BNP “could not tolerate” Akhtaruzzaman’s change of political affiliation.

Dhaka City Jamaat organised the rally before a protest march demanding the former lawmaker’s release.

Akhtaruzzaman, a former BNP MP who joined Jamaat in December 2025, was arrested by Detective Branch police from his Cantonment residence on Friday. Police said the case arose from an October 1 incident at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport. 

A Dhaka court on Saturday placed him on one-day remand after police sought five days.

According to the case statement, a 34-member Jamaat delegation returning from Madinah faced delays and a shortage of luggage trolleys at the airport. Akhtaruzzaman allegedly threatened airport Executive Director Group Captain SM Ragib Samad and verbally and physically assaulted security supervisor Warrant Officer Mohammad Kamal Uddin. 

Porwar rejected those allegations as false.

He said 34 Jamaat lawmakers and leaders returning from abroad had waited for hours without receiving their luggage and Zamzam water, arguing that demanding an explanation from airport authorities was a citizen’s right.

Akhtaruzzaman had merely exercised that right, Porwar said.

Biman Bangladesh Airlines later took departmental action against two officials over delays in distributing Zamzam water, citing alleged negligence.

Porwar demanded the case be withdrawn, the remand order cancelled and Akhtaruzzaman released immediately.

“The people of Bangladesh are getting ready,” he warned. “Given the BNP government’s behaviour, they are preparing against you, and you will not be able to handle it.”

‘Love cannot be one-sided’

Porwar also widened his criticism beyond the arrest, taking aim at Prime Minister Tarique Rahman and the increasingly strained relationship between the BNP and Jamaat.

He objected to the prime minister describing Jamaat-Shibir as “clandestine,” pointing to the BNP’s long history of political cooperation with Jamaat.

“When Khaleda Zia was leader of the four-party, 18-party and 20-party alliances, were Jamaat-Shibir clandestine then?” Porwar asked.

He said Jamaat-Shibir activists had joined BNP-led street programmes in the past while Tarique was in London.

Porwar made similar remarks at Saturday’s rally about the BNP-Jamaat relationship dating back to 1991, according to other reporting from the event.

He accused the prime minister of following the political path of former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina by branding Jamaat as clandestine and invoking allegations of genocide and war crimes against the party.

Porwar also questioned whether the BNP had established a “secret connection” with Delhi. He offered no evidence at the rally to substantiate the allegation.

Responding to remarks from BNP lawmakers calling for Jamaat-Shibir to be banned, Porwar claimed their rhetoric echoed that of Hasina and alleged the BNP and Awami League differed in name but shared the same political character.

On Jamaat’s controversial role during the 1971 Liberation War, Porwar acknowledged that those associated with the party at the time supported a united Pakistan.

He nevertheless claimed Jamaat had not participated in genocide or criminal acts and said the public should judge the party’s historical role.

His assertion conflicts with verdicts delivered by Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal, which convicted several senior Jamaat leaders of crimes committed during the 1971 war.

Porwar also responded to the Leader of the Opposition’s recent offer to cooperate with the government on initiatives deemed beneficial to the country.

“Love cannot be one-sided,” he said. “We alone cannot keep loving while you do not love at all.”

Jamaat, he said, would not cooperate with a government that divided the country by constructing a political narrative around 1971 and followed what he called Hasina’s path.

He nevertheless urged the BNP and Jamaat to work together against what he described as fascism and an alleged effort to facilitate Hasina’s return to Bangladesh in December. Porwar has previously alleged that elements within the government were helping create conditions for the Awami League’s political return. 

Dhaka North City Jamaat Ameer Mohammad Selim Uddin, who presided over the rally, also demanded that the case against Akhtaruzzaman be withdrawn and that he be released.

The programme was moderated by Dhaka North City Secretary Rezaul Karim. Dhaka South City Secretary Shafiqul Islam Masud, Assistant Secretary Kamal Hossain, Dhaka North Assistant Secretary Yasin Arafat and DUCSU Vice President Sadik Kayem were among those who spoke.

After the rally, Jamaat supporters marched from Baitul Mukarram through Purana Paltan, the National Press Club and the High Court intersection before ending near Matshya Bhaban.

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