The secretary of Jamaat-e-Islami’s women’s division, Nurun Nesa Siddiqua, has defended the ameer’s recent statement regarding the role of women in society, saying that, in an Islamic organisation, women cannot become leaders, a fact that they have accepted.
She made the remarks after meeting with Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin on Sunday.
In response to a journalist’s question, Nurun Nesa Siddiqua said, “Jamaat-e-Islami is an Islamic organisation. And an Islamic organisation will operate according to Islam. Allah the Almighty has said in the Holy Quran, ‘Men are the directors of women.’
“The directive of the Quran is obligatory. Accordingly, women cannot come into leadership in any Islamic organization. We are moving forward accepting this. Therefore, the issue of women reaching the top post (Amir) is not the main issue for us. The main issue is whether women’s rights are being realized.”
She said, “In the past 54 years, there have been two female prime ministers in the country, but have women’s problems been solved? Has violence against women decreased? Have rights been realized? Therefore, we want leadership that will be humane.”
Habiba Chowdhury Sweet, another member of Jamaat-e-Islami’s women’s division, added, “Attacks are being carried out on mothers and sisters all over Bangladesh. That is why we are here. On behalf of all the mothers and sisters of Bangladesh, we could not sit at home. We have also submitted many documents referring to various such incidents to the Election Commission.”
Stating that Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami respects women, she said that the organisation is making every effort to establish women’s rights.
“In Jamaat-e-Islami, we have 43% women representatives. So, this organisation does value women, respect, and rights. We are moving forward with a vision of Bangladesh where all women’s rights are respected.”
“We have representation everywhere – from villages to urban areas. We provide women with leadership training. I think these recent attacks are being carried because of vengeance,” she added.
When asked about how she feels about Jamaat not putting forward a single female candidate in the upcoming parliamentary election, she said, “Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami is never an obstacle to women’s empowerment. We have made a decision in our advisory committee, which has 43 women, we are participating in local elections.”
Jamaat denies allegations of ‘peace committee’
Meanwhile, Ahsanul Mahboob Zubair has claimed that the allegation made by the BNP that Jamaat-e-Islami will form a “peace committee” in the name of maintaining peace and order during the election is “absurd”.
He said, “Such absurd allegations cannot come from a sound mind. No sound party can make such allegations.”
He claimed, “A party becomes restless, they are saying all these things because they are frightened by how massive our public support is – both from men and women.”
