A dispute over the election of a new ameer and the formation of a committee of Jamaat-e-Islami’s Cumilla city unit turned into violence on Wednesday evening.
The party office and a car belonging to its secretary were vandalised, and a cocktail bomb exploded on the rooftop.
The incident took place around 7pm on Wednesday at the party’s city office at Faruki House in Mogoltuli, Cumilla.
Party sources said tensions had intensified over a central decision to move Kazi Din Mohammad, who has served as the city ameer for nearly 30 years, and the two nayeb ameers to central-level positions and remove their names from the city unit’s voter list.
The decision reportedly angered a section of party leaders and activists, triggering allegations that followers of one of the nayeb ameers were involved in the vandalism and disorder.
However, their involvement could not be independently verified.
In a statement issued after the incident, the Cumilla city unit said misleading reports about its organisational affairs were circulating in the media and on social media.
According to the statement, a scheduled meeting was underway at the party office around 7pm when a group of young men entered the venue and created a disturbance. As they left amid shouting, they vandalised a vehicle belonging to the party, it said.
The statement, signed by city ameer Kazi Din Mohammad, said the party was investigating the incident and would inform the media after establishing who was responsible and why it happened.
However, CCTV footage showed a middle-aged man striking the secretary’s black microbus with a stick while others attempted to stop him. No outsiders were seen entering the premises in the footage.
An assistant sub-inspector-level police officer arrived at the scene after being informed of the incident and waited there for some time. Other police personnel later arrived and brought the situation under control.
Dispute over new ameer
Party sources said differences among senior leaders had been ongoing for some time over the election of a new ameer for the Cumilla city unit.
Kazi Din Mohammad’s long tenure had recently drawn criticism and debate on social media. A party source said he later expressed a desire not to remain in the new committee.
The names of the city unit’s two nayeb ameers, Mosleh Uddin and Emdadul Haque Mamun, had emerged as possible contenders for the post. Some party members expected one of them to be elected through a vote among the rukun (party members eligible to vote).
However, ahead of the election, Kazi Din Mohammad and the two nayeb ameers were reportedly called to Dhaka by the central leadership. After the decision to remove their names from the city unit’s voter list, speculation grew that city secretary Mahbubur Rahman could become the next ameer.
The move prompted a section of party activists to question Mahbubur Rahman’s role. They said that the incumbent ameer and the two nayeb ameers should remain in the city unit.
The dispute came into the open on Wednesday evening while a meeting of ward-level leaders was underway at the city office. Several young men entered the meeting and created a disturbance before a vehicle was vandalised. A crud bomb also exploded on the rooftop of the office, according to party sources.
Although party sources alleged that followers of Nayeb Ameer Emdadul Haque Mamun and Secretary Mahbubur Rahman were involved in the confrontation, the allegations could not be independently verified.
Police from Kotwali Model Police Station visited the scene and brought the situation under control. Police personnel have since been deployed there.
Jamaat, police statements
Mosharraf Hossain, assistant secretary of the Cumilla city unit, told journalists that the incident was an internal party matter and that the party would brief the media. He said a meeting was underway at the time.
In its subsequent statement, the city unit reiterated that the incident occurred during a previously scheduled meeting and that the party was investigating the matter.
Kotwali Model Police Station Officer-in-Charge Touhidul Anwar said police were sent to the party office at Faruki House in Mogoltuli after reports of vehicle vandalism and a crude bomb explosion. The situation had returned to normal after police arrived, he added.
Repeated attempts to contact city ameer Kazi Din Mohammad, Naib Ameer Emdadul Haque Mamun and Secretary Mahbubur Rahman for comment were unsuccessful.
Mia Mohammad Toufiq, a former Islami Chhatra Shibir leader and convener of the Amar Bangladesh Party’s Cumilla district unit, said he is no longer involved in Shibir politics and described Wednesday night’s incident as unprecedented.
