Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami’s Ameer Dr. Shafiqur Rahman has issued the following statement on 12 September 2021 protesting and condemning consecutive remand of two days against 5 top leaders including Jamaat’s Secretary General and former lawmaker Professor Mia Golam Porwar and Assistant Secretary General Maulana Rafiqul Islam Khan and ongoing arrest drives across the country.
“Police arrested 9 Jamaat leaders including Jamaat’s Secretary General on last 6 September. They were taken into 4-day remand on 7 September. As that remand concludes, they were produced before the court today and another 10-day remand plead against them. The court later granted two days remand against them. Since the arrest, these Jamaat leaders are under the custody of the law enforcers. All the detainees are respected citizens of the country. Two of them were members of the Parliament. Another one is a senate member of Rajshahi University. Rest of the detainees are socially respected and honored. But paying no heed to their honor and without complying the directives of the High Court, they were taken into the police remand once again. In the previous demand, they faced discourteous behavior. We are really worried about them as they are being taken into remand consecutively. The government has adopted the strategies of repression and torture as they failed to tackle Jamaat politically.
Meanwhile, police arrested Rangpur city Jamaat Secretary Obaidullah Salafi on 11 September night, Chapai Nawabganj district’s Nachol municipality Nayeb-e-Ameer Rafiqul Islam and two others this noon and also arrested several other Jamaat leaders and activists from various parts of the city. We are protesting such arrest and unlawful approaches of the government. The tenure of office can never be lingered through oppression. The fellow countrymen are extremely fed up due to government’s repression.
We are urging the concerned authorities to cancel the remand against Jamaat’s Secretary General and other leaders and demanding release of all the political detainees immediately.