RELIGIOUS SENTIMENTProceeding against Nizami, Mojaheed put off

Dhaka, Mar 27 (bdnews24.com) — The High Court has adjourned for four months the proceedings of a case filed against five top Jamaat-e-Islami leaders accusing them of hurting religious sentiment.

The High Court bench comprising justices Shamim Hasnain and Rezaul Hasan on Sunday passed the order.

It also issued a rule seeking explanation from the authorities why the case should not be dismissed. The rule is returnable within four weeks.

Bangladesh Tariqat Federation secretary general Syed Rezaul Haque Chandpuri filed the case with the Dhaka Magistrates Court on Mar 21 last year against Jamaat chief Matiur Rahman Nizami, secretary general Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojaheed, executive council member Delwar Hossain Sayedee, Dhaka City chief Rafiqul Islam and chief of its Dhaka Metropolitan (south) unit A S M Yahia.

The case statement says Rafiqul Islam compared Nizami with Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (PBUH) at a Mar 17 meeting of pro-Jamaat student front Islami Chhatra Shibir in the city.

Various newspapers on Mar 18 reported Rafiqul Islam as saying that the prophet in his lifetime was "tortured, falsified and conspired against" and "the same is happening in the case of Nizami".

Among the accused, Rafiqul and Yahia are on bail.

In Sunday's court proceedings, deputy attorney general Mohammad Ullah Kislu stood for the state, while Abdur Razzaque for the Jamaat leaders.

Nizami, Mojaheed and Sayedee were arrested on Mar 29 last year in this connection.

The three secured bail the next day and appealed for rejection of the case on Feb 14.

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