Banning Jamaat only a matter of time, says Tofail

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed has said the banning of the Jamaat-e-Islami is only a matter of time and has advised all to be patient until it happens.

Staff Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 11 May 2016, 12:32 PM
Updated : 11 May 2016, 12:32 PM

He came up with the statement at a press briefing at his Secretariat office on Wednesday, a day after the execution of Jamaat chief Motiur Rahman Nizami for war crimes during Bangladesh’s Liberation War.
 
To a question, the senior Awami League leader said, “The banning of the Jamaat is a matter of time. Wait and see.”
 
Different sections of society have been demanding a ban on the Jamaat, which assisted the Pakistan army during the 1971 Liberation War, since the beginning of the trials of war criminals through the constitution of the International Crimes Tribunal in 2010.
 
The Election Commission invalidated the registration of the party for its failure to fulfil conditions, thus disqualifying it from contesting elections.
 
The Jamaat moved the High Court challenging the Commission decision, but the hearing on its plea is yet to be held.
 
The party has never apologized for its role in 1971.
 
The verdict in the war crimes case against former Jamaat chief Ghulam Azam had described the Jamaat as a ‘criminal organisation’.
 
Law Minister Anisul Huq recently told reporters that amendments to the relevant law had been finalised to ban the Jamaat. For his part, Food Minister Qamrul Islam said the party would be banned this year following legal procedures.
 
Asked why the finalisation of the law had been hanging in the balance for the last two years, Tofail told reporters, “Please wait. We have been working on the trials for the last 45 years.”