Last Updated on November 22, 2025 10:55 pm by INDIAN AWAAZ
Zakir Hossain from Dhaka
The Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir on Saturday warned Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami not to “fool or mislead people” by suggesting that voting for the party ensures Jannat (heaven after resurrection).
“Those who claim that getting a Jamaat ticket guarantees a ticket to heaven should show me where that is written. Islam never approves using religion for political gain,” he said at a programme organised by mosque-based educators under the Islamic Foundation.
Fakhrul criticised Jamaat for having “no visible role” in resisting the “fascist Sheikh Hasina regime” over the past decade. “It was our founder Ziaur Rahman who first gave them the opportunity to enter politics… But we have not seen any visible effort from them,” he said. He also alleged that Jamaat’s student wing, Chhatra Shibir, had “infiltrated” Dhaka University’s Chhatra League. “We cannot engage in such activities.”
The BNP leader recalled the sacrifices of BNP activists who faced killings, disappearances, and imprisonment. He also mocked a political party that once loudly demanded “PR must be given”, saying its tone had now “softened”.
Fakhrul said BNP had proposed reforms and signed the July charter drafted by the National Consensus Commission but accused the commission of adding “points beyond the agreed document”. He said the July–August mass uprising, which claimed around 1,500 lives, had created a chance to “rebuild the country” through a fair, participatory election.
He lamented that corruption and injustice persist despite Bangladesh’s large number of mosques and madrasas, stressing the need for stronger moral education. Calling BNP a liberal democratic party, he said democracy is essential for protecting all communities. He accused the Hasina government of depriving people of voting rights and religious freedom and questioned scholars who named Hasina “Mother of Qawmi”.
Fakhrul added that the Awami League had “ruined state institutions” and promised that a future BNP government would restore the Islamic Foundation as a full state institution under the revenue budget.