Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami’s Ameer Dr. Shafiqur Rahman addressed the countrymen at press conference in the presence of a large number of journalists organized on 6th Augus about the overall situation in the country. The conference was chaired by Central Executive Committee Member and Jamaat’s media and publicity Secretary Advocate Matiur Rahman Akand. Among others, Jamaat’s Nayeb-e-Ameer and former MP Professor Mujibur Rahman and Maulana ANM Shamsul Islam, Acting Secretary General Maulana ATM Masum, Assistant Secretary General Maulana Rafiqul Islam Khan, former MP Hamidur Rahman Azad, Maulana Abdul Halim, Central Executive committee Member and Dhaka south city Ameer Nurul Islam Bulbul, Central Executive Committee Member and Dhaka North city Ameer Mohammad Salim Uddin, and Central Executive Committee Member Mr. Abdur Rob were present in the press conference.

Jamaat Ameer Dr. Shafiqur Rahman’s speech to the countrymen is given below: -

“Bismillahir Rahmanir Rahim
Dear journalist friends,
Assalamu Alaikum Wa Rahmatullahi Wa Barakatuh.
As you know, from the first week of July, our student communities started a movement demanding reforms in quota provision in the public services. A peaceful movement was carried out centering the issue. The countrymen became fully agreed with such notion that their demands were reasonable and just. Many people including students were killed in this movement. Thousands of students became injured. Many people including students have gone missing. We do not have the power to return the lost people to their families. I express my deepest condolences to those who have sacrificed their lives in this movement. I pray to Almighty Allah to accept them as martyrs. I want to express our heartiest gratitude to those who have made these sacrifices. This dramatic change of the entire situation is the result of the mercy of Almighty Allah. We are fully grateful and thankful to Almighty Allah. May Allah bless those quick recovery who are injured and undergoing treatment.

Journalist friends,
We all know that this government ruled the country for almost 16 years. The head of the previous government was forced to resign and flee away on 5th August in the wake of mass uprising. She left the country without giving any direction to the nation. In this movement of the students, the general public, young and old, men and women have taken part actively. People from all walks of life have been oppressed in one way or another by the tyrannical government. This is why, citizens spontaneously took to the streets out of pent-up anger. This movement of students was peaceful.

But due to the provocative speech of some persons, a group of miscreants started vandalizing cities-ports-villages. Government buildings, houses of opponents and places of worship of different religions have been attacked in some areas. Incidents of vandalism and looting and arson have taken place as well. A sane person cannot do these things. We have condemned these activities of the miscreants several times and still condemning it now. Under the circumstances, we have called upon the countrymen as well as the manpower of our organization to play the role of guardians in protecting the properties of the people of all religions. No one is majority or minority in our country. All those who are born in this country, regardless of caste, religion and caste, are citizens of this country and all have equal rights. So, the question of majority or minority is invalid.

I would like to appeal once again to the countrymen to resist the miscreants and their misdeeds. We are ready to give full cooperation to the administration. We have already communicated our commitment to the responsible leaders at all levels of the organization and asked them to contact with the respective administrations to cooperate in this regard.

Alhamdulillah, since last night, our leaders have responded to this call and started performing proper duties across the country. It is not possible for our organization alone to stop all mischief in this country of 56 thousand square miles. In this regard, people from all levels of the country including the administration must play a responsible role. If we as a whole society and administration can work together, it is definitely possible to stop these misdeeds. Those involved in this vandalism and mischief must be brought to the justice and the must be punished severely.

Dear fellow Journalists,
This country is ours. Our expatriate brothers have stopped sending remittances to the country out of anger. From our organization, we never discouraged them to send remittance. How can we live if the country does not exist. So, our call to expatriates and businessmen, let us build the devastated country together and fulfill our responsibilities as conscious citizens.

Dear brothers,
I would like to end my speech here for today. Thank you very much for your valuable time. We hope that in the coming days, we will make a united effort to build this nation together with our journalist friends. As you know, yesterday His Excellency the President sat with the political parties. In that meeting, we have presented some demands. He accepted many of the demands considering it reasonable and implemented some of those already. One of our big demands was to form an interim government very quickly to overcome this crisis in the country. Before this, the national parliament must be dissolved. He has promised to dissolve parliament and subsequently to form an interim government soon.

Dear Brothers,
We already came to know that His Excellency the President already dissolved the parliament and started the process of establishing the interim government. And I call upon the upcoming interim government to move forward without delay to establish a people's government by holding meaningful national elections as soon as possible. Thank you again.