Awami League will have to atone for making a JaSoD leader minister, says Syed Ashraf

​Syed Ashraful Islam says the Awami League will have to atone as long as it exists for making a government minister out of a leader of JaSoD.

The general secretary of the ruling party has blamed Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, or JaSoD, for creating the grounds for the assassination of the nation’s founding father Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman.

His remarks came at a discussion on Monday at the Dhaka University’s TSC auditorium.

He also warned the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) leaders and activists, asking them to learn from history and stay away from the ‘reckless’ JaSoD.

Last year, several AL leaders had become vocal against the JaSoD’s role after the 1971 Liberation War.

Though that tirade lost steam over the course of the year, Syed Ashraf has now apparently renewed the attack on their ally.

He said, “JaSoD was formed in the name of scientific socialism after separating from Chhatra League. JaSoD’s so-called scientific socialists then took the spirit of the Liberation War to a completely different direction.

“The Liberation War is a part of our history. But JaSoD tried to make it controversial. They tried to break apart the country before Bangabandhu could return home.”

“If they had not created the environment to assassinate Bangabandhu, Bangladesh would have been a very different Bangladesh,” said the public administration minister, who is the son of Sheikh Mujib’s close associate Syed Nazul Islam who was killed in 1975.

JaSoD had left Awami League’s side and opposed the government led by Bangabandhu after the Liberation War, a move which was much criticised.

But it joined the Awami League-led coalition in the 1980s and is still a member of the current 14-Party alliance.

JaSoD President Hasanul Haq Inu is currently serving as the information minister in Awami League chief and Prime Minster Sheikh Hasina’s Cabinet for the second consecutive term.

Syed Ashraf continued, “The country would have progressed economically earlier if Bangabandhu had remained alive. But this couldn’t be made possible because of the reckless (JaSoD leaders).

“One of them has also been made a minister, and the Awami League will have to atone for this as long as it exists.”

When asked to comment, Inu on Monday night told bdnews24.com that he was yet to look into what Syed Ashraf had said.

Inu said he might respond on Tuesday after looking into the matter.

In August last year, Awami League Presidium member Sheikh Fazlul Karim Selim had also alleged that JaSoD was responsible for creating the ground for Bangabandhu’s assassination. Several ruling party leaders had backed his allegations.

Responding to that, Inu had urged them not to dig too much into the past and said, “Many steps need to be taken to move forward...History will decide what was right or wrong.”

“The Awami League and JaSoD are united on principle. We are together in movements, in the elections and in the government,” he said, rejecting any chance of breaking away from the ruling party led coalition.