Leaders of Ahle Sunnat Wal Jama’at (ASWJ) on Monday said Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh (HIB) has proved once again that it is a militant organisation and an enemy of Islam and humanity by setting fire to the Holy Quran, Hadis, mosque, shrine and properties of poor people. “We have been saying for a long time that HIB is a militant organisation, but we failed to make the government and the Opposition understand this,” the ASWJ leaders said, adding that the people of the country, however, have learned about HIB’s real nature from the violent activities of its activists in the capital on Sunday.
The ASWJ leaders were speaking at a press conference held at the conference hall of the Chittagong Press Club on Monday afternoon.
Reading out a written speech, the organisation’s member secretary, Advocate Mosaheb Uddin Bokhtear, said violent HIB activists set fire to bookshops in front of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque, where hundreds of copies of the Holy Quran, Hadis and Islami books were gutted. “It is a defamation of Islam which even the extreme enemies of Islam have never dared to do,” he added. After carrying out all such anti-Islam activities, can they be considered Muslims, Bokhtear asked.
Financed by capitalists and enemies of Islam, HIB leaders are trying to present Bangladesh as a terrorist and failed state to the world, he alleged. “If the government does not control the militants of HIB with an iron hand now itself, the country will soon be on the verge of destruction,” Bokhtear stated.
He urged the government to arrest all HIB leaders and activists involved in the atrocious violence in the capital and award them exemplary punishment.
The press conference was also attended by Mufti Obaidul Hoque Noymee, Moulana MA Motin, SUM Abdus Samad, Alhajj Peyar Mohammad, Mufti Sayed Osiur Rahman, Kazi Moinuddin Ashrafi, Principal Abul Farah Mohammad Farid Uddin and Principal Yaqub Ali Khan, among others.
Earlier, leaders and activists of ASWJ brought out a procession from Jamia Ahmedia Sunnia Madrasa in Muradpur area in the morning. They were protesting against the burning of the Quran, Hadis and Islami books and the arson at Baitul Mukarram Mosque and Golap Shah Shrine by HIB activists.
Ignoring inclement weather, a good number of Sunni Muslims took part in the procession. After marching through different important roads, the procession ended at GEC Intersection area.
At the end of the procession, a short rally was organised. The leaders addressed it and said, “HIB leaders and activists do not believe in Islam.” “If they believed in Islam, they would never have set fire to the Quran, Hadis, mosque, shrine and properties of the poor people,” they added.
Describing the HIB as militant and an extreme enemy of Islam, the leaders demanded that stern action be taken against the HIB leaders who are trying to create anarchy in the country.
-With The Independent input
