Hifazat chief Shah Ahmad Shafi is set to arrive in Dhaka for medical treatment on Tuesday evening, his personal assistant has said.
Published : 06 Jun 2017, 05:35 PM
Hifazat-e-Islam, a radical Islamist group, has made headlines multiple times since 2013 when protesters at the Shahbagh square demanded capital punishment for 1971 war criminals.
The Shahbagh protests prompted the radical group and its chief to demand trials of what they called “atheist bloggers”. It also demanded cancellation of women's development policy, drawing attention from the media.
Shafi, 89, has been suffering from weakness and respiratory problems since May 18, said his party leaders.
An air ambulance will carry him to Dhaka from Chittagong on Tuesday afternoon. Shafi will be treated at Asgar Ali Hospital located in Dhaka’s Gandaria.
He is currently staying at the Centre for Specialised Care and Research in the port city of Chittagong where he got admitted last month. Shafi was kept at the coronary care unit for a few days.
Shafi’s son Maolana Mohammad Yusuf will accompany him to Dhaka.
His qawmi madrasa-based organisation Hifazat-e-Islam came to limelight three years back with its controversial ‘March to Dhaka’ programme leading to vandalism and fatalities.
Recently, the Lady Justice’s statue was removed from its original location at the Supreme Court following the outfit's demand. The statue was later reinstalled outside the top court's Annex Building.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina met a delegation led by Shafi last month at her official residence and later made the highest qawmi madrasa certificate equivalent to a post-graduate degree.