Prime Minister’s Political Assistant Rashed Khan has accused Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Shafiqur Rahman of bearing responsibility for alleged Awami League violence during garment workers’ protests, saying the Jamaat chief cannot avoid accountability for the incidents.
“We stand in solidarity with the workers’ legitimate demands. But the Jamaat ameer cannot evade responsibility for the Awami League’s violence centring on the workers’ movement,” Rashed said.
He also claimed that the government had already begun implementing the demands raised by the workers through their long march.
Rashed made the remarks while talking to journalists after attending the funeral prayers of Israel Hossain, relief and rehabilitation affairs secretary of Jhenaidah district BNP, at the Government Naldanga Bhukhu School field on Tuesday afternoon.
Referring to the 11-party alliance’s long march, Rashed said the Jamaat ameer had warned that everything would be devastated if the demands were not met.
He alleged that following the statement, the Awami League and its student wing, Chhatra League, began acts of destruction using the garment workers’ movement as a pretext.
“The garment industry is being set on fire to destroy Bangladesh’s economy,” he said.
Commenting on the tearing of copies of Amar Desh, Rashed said the newspaper had once been aligned with them.
He alleged that after the interim government was formed, the newspaper began publishing narratives aimed at bringing Jamaat-e-Islami to power.
“Amar Desh has now become Jamaat’s mouthpiece. People now describe its media house as a Jamaat propaganda house,” he said.
Rashed also alleged that Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar had held a meeting with an Indian intelligence official.
He said he had made information about the alleged meeting public and challenged those concerned to file a defamation case against him if the information was false.
“I have torn apart a false narrative. I have exposed an untruth. I have also rejected the Awami League tag attached to me,” he said.
On the proposed increase in gas prices, Rashed said the country is facing shortages of energy and gas, while the government was exploring alternative ways to address the crisis.
He alleged that neither the Awami League government nor the interim government had undertaken gas well drilling or exploration.
He also accused market syndicates of obstructing the government’s efforts to address the crisis.
The government would determine gas prices once the supply problem was resolved, he said.
Rashed further claimed that the BNP government is facing resistance from two forces defeated in 1971 and 2024, which he accused of trying to undermine the government.
Kaliganj Police Station Officer-in-Charge Julfikar Ali, former senior joint convener of Kaliganj upazila BNP Hamidul Islam, former general secretary Tabibur Rahman Mini, and leaders and activists of the BNP and its affiliated organisations were present at the event.
