Assistant Secretary General of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Maulana ATM Masum has issued the following statement on 23rd February strongly condemning and protesting the incident of the removal of the customary two-hour break for Muslims to offer Friday prayers in the Assam province of India.

“I strongly condemn and protest the incident of the removal of the customary two-hour break for Muslims to offer Friday prayers in the Assam province of India. By taking this decision, the Assam Legislative Assembly implemented the decision of Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sharma. However, the provision of giving two-hour break for Muslims to offer Friday prayers has been in force in the Assam Legislative Assembly for the past 90 years. The Assamese government has done injustice to Muslims by violating such provision. This decision of the Assam Legislative Assembly is completely unjust, and unexpected.

He said that by taking this decision, the Assam Legislative Assembly has violated the United Nations Charter by hindering the religious rights of Muslims. The government of no democratic country in the world can hinder the religious rights of people. "Through this decision, the Islamophobic attitude of the Assam Legislative Assembly has been exposed. The Assam Legislative Assembly has hurt the religious sentiments of Muslims all over the world by taking an anti-Islamic decision. I urge the Assamese government to immediately withdraw this unjust, undemocratic and Islamophobic decision of the Assam Legislative Assembly. At the same time, we strongly condemn the decision and urge the Bangladesh government to take necessary diplomatic steps to force the Assam government to withdraw the decision."