Jamaat leader's daughter gets berth in Mahila AL for being wife of ruling party MP

Mahila Awami League leader Mahmuda Begum Creek has said that Rizia Nadvi’s inclusion in their central committee has nothing to do with her being a daughter of a Jamaat-e-Islami leader.

“Rather, her (Nadvi’s) identity as the wife of an Awami League MP was prioritised,” General Secretary Creek told bdnews24.com on Sunday, amidst criticisms from inside the organisation.

Awami League General Secretary Obaidul Quader approved the 151-strong central committee of the ruling party women's front on Saturday. Rizia Nadvi’s name is in No. 68 in the list as an executive committee member.

Nadvi is the daughter of Muminul Haque Chowdhury who is a member of the Jamaat executive council. He has also contested in several parliamentary elections with the party’s ticket from Chittagong’s Banshkhali.

It is also alleged that Nadvi was involved with Islami Chhatri Sangstha, Jamaat’s female student wing, when she was a student in Chittagong College.

She is now married to Awami League MP from Chittagong-15 constituency (Satkania-Lohagara) Abu Reza Muhammad Nezamuddin Nadvi. He was elected in the 2014 national elections.

Rizia Nadvi was selected as the organising secretary of the Mahila Awami League’s Chittagong South unit in February. But later she was taken off the committee due to internal backlash.

Responding to the criticisms at that time, she had told bdnews24.com, “Attempts are being made to tarnish my image because my father is a Jamaat leader.

“It’s been a long time since Awami League came to power. Would they have given me a post if the allegations were specific?”

Regarding her alleged ties to Chhatri Sangstha during student life, Nadvi said, “I was married off when I was a ninth grader. Then there was no opportunity and time for politics. Later, I joined Awami League’s politics instead of following my father’s footsteps.”

About the disapproval from the organisation’s leaders and activists over Saturday’s development, Mahmuda Begum Creek said, “Rizia is now the wife of an Awami League MP who won the election with the boat symbol.

“We considered her present identity while selecting her for the post (on the committee). She is our MP’s wife, and who is her father doesn’t matter now.”

Mahila Awami League President Safia Khatun and General Secretary Creek disclosed the 151-member full committee on Sunday evening at the ruling party chief’s political office in Dhaka’s Dhanmondi.

The committee came four months after Khatun and Creek were elected the organisation’s leadership through a council that was held 14 years ago.

[Additional reporting by bdnews24.com Chittagong Bureau]