Biplobi Chhatra Maitri has said that the recent statement by Jamaat Ameer Shafiqur Rahman regarding women who work was a clear manifestation of a fascistic mentality, strongly condemning the statement.
The organisation’s President Dilip Roy and General Secretary Jabir Ahmed Jubaier said this as part of a joint statement issued on Sunday.
In the statement, the leaders said, “Comparing the social existence of working women to ‘prostitution‘ is not only an expression of hatred towards women, but also a naked manifestation of feudalist, capitalist, and fanatically fascist mentality. This kind of statement is a well-planned political strategy to exclude women from society and politics, and to keep them away from the spheres of production and decision-making.”
In the statement, the leaders further said, “Women are an inseparable force of production and active agents of social change. Confining women to the home, excluding them from production and politics, is a perpetual method followed by the bourgeoisie exploiting class to maintain its dominance. In present-day Bangladesh, reactionary bourgeois forces including Jamaat are trying to legitimise this historical exploitation in religious language. They deny women’s social labor, seek to perpetuate patriarchal subjugation, and aim to sustain class and gender-based exploitation by using religion. This kind of statement is actually a strategy to divide working men and women, break unity against exploitation, and strengthen fascist politics.”
Biplobi Chhatra Maitri described Jamaat’s subsequent response to the controversy – blaming it on the ameer’s X account getting hacked – as a clear cover-up tactic for damage control, stating that Jamaat has expressed such misogynistic positions many times in the past.
Referring to the ameer’s interview with Al Jazeera two days prior, the statement said that the Jamaat leader was pretty clear regarding his stance on the matter.
“According to the party’s constitution, women are not eligible for the position of ameer; it is supposedly a ‘male position’,” the statement added. “This very statement proves that a disrespectful and discriminatory attitude towards women is a fundamental part of their political ideology.”
Citing a few recent examples, the statement said, “We want to be clear that such misogynistic statements and behaviour are not isolated ‘personal mistakes’. They are an expression of the fundamental character of Islamist fascist forces. Attempts to hide this under the guise of ‘hacking’ or various excuses will not be accepted by the people of Bangladesh.”
Urging to socially and politically resist all forms of politics that incite hatred and violence against working women, the leaders said, “To ensure equal rights, dignity, and security, the democratic and progressive movement must be strengthened for all women, including working women.”
The controversy began on Friday, when Shafiqur Rahman posted on his official account that women who leave their homes for work were akin to prostitutes.
Later, however, Jamaat retracted the statement at a press conference, saying that the ameer’s X account had been hacked.
