BNP Chairperson’s Adviser and the party’s District Convener Habibur Rahman has issued a stern warning that no Jamaat-e-Islami-affiliated imam or muezzin will be allowed to lead prayers or call the azan in any mosque in Atgharia upazila of Pabna.
He made the remark on Saturday around 11am while visiting BNP leaders and activists injured in recent clashes, who are currently undergoing treatment at Atgharia Upazila Health Complex. A video of his comments has since gone viral on social media, reports Prothom Alo.
In the 11-minute-23-second video, Habibur Rahman said, “Whatever decision the party makes, I agree with it 100 percent — even if I personally don’t like it or it doesn’t match my opinion. But today I’m declaring clearly — maybe not everywhere else, but from now on in Atgharia, no Jamaat-affiliated muezzin will be allowed to give azan, no Jamaat imam will be allowed to lead prayers in any mosque. This is a clear announcement — wherever you go this Friday, protest.”
He further accused Jamaat members of being dishonest and deceitful, saying, “People who belong to Jamaat lie. You cannot pray behind them. They are such hypocrites that they locked the Debottar Bazar mosque and left. Both the imam and the muezzin locked the mosque and disappeared. As a result, people couldn’t offer Jumu’ah prayers yesterday. They had to pray in an open field. The mosque was reopened, apparently after the administration intervened.”
The situation escalated following a dispute over the guardianship position in Debottar Degree College’s managing committee, which led to clashes between BNP and Jamaat supporters last Thursday afternoon. Both parties reportedly engaged in attacks and vandalism at each other’s local offices, followed by protest marches and counter-protests.
On Friday morning, Jamaat activists staged a protest, alleging that a copy of the Holy Qur’an was burned during the unrest. In response, BNP leaders held a counter press briefing later in the day. The following afternoon, while visiting injured party members, Habibur Rahman delivered the controversial statements.
He compared Jamaat’s recent actions to those of the ruling Awami League: “Just as the fascists in Awami League used to beat people unilaterally, so did they (Jamaat). They also made vile remarks.”
Urging the public to resist Jamaat-Shibir, he declared, “Jamaat-Shibir are anti-independence. They’re the ones who used to sever tendons. They don’t believe in our independence, they don’t believe in the Language Movement of 1952. They don’t go to Shaheed Minar, they don’t visit the National Memorial. They are anti-liberation, fundamentalist, and pathological liars.”
He also accused Jamaat of staging the Qur’an-burning incident to frame BNP: “Only someone truly savage and disrespectful of religion could burn the Qur’an and then march with it in protest to make it look like BNP activists were responsible. They wanted to show the world that BNP people burned the Qur’an.”
Denying the allegation outright, Habibur Rahman stated, “Our people cannot burn the Qur’an. No BNP activist has done this. If a BNP activist gets furious, he may attack his own father with a knife, or cut a sibling into pieces if wronged — but I say this with full responsibility: no BNP member can burn the Qur’an.” He concluded by calling for justice against those spreading falsehoods.