Hifazat leaders meet home minister again as arrests continue after violence

Some leaders of Hifazat-e Islam have met Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal for the second time in three weeks.

Senior Correspondentbdnews24.com
Published : 4 May 2021, 09:34 PM
Updated : 4 May 2021, 09:34 PM

The meeting on Tuesday night came as a crackdown on the Islamist group continued following violence during the celebrations of 50 years of independence.

Nurul Islam Jihadi, member secretary of the organisation’s newly formed convening committee, led a delegation of six leaders.

The others were Mufti Maulana Jasimuddin , Maulana Yahiya, Principal Mizanur Rahman, Maulana Mainuddin and Maulana Ataullah Hafezi.

State Minister for Religious Affairs Faridul Islam Dulal was also present in the meeting that ended some time after midnight, said Sharif Mahmud Apu, a spokesman for the home ministry.

Faridul said the Hifazat leaders asked for release of the members of the group claiming that they did make some mistake but the violence “was actually done by infiltrators”.  

The home minster told the radical group's leaders that the police were making arrests after confirming identities of the culprits from video footage, according to Faridul.

He could not say whether the Hifazat leaders who attended the meeting were accused in any case over the violence.    

Jihadi said they demanded release of the leaders and activists of the organisation and reopening of madrasas that are shut down along with all other educational institutions due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Jihadi was the secretary general of Hifazat’s last central committee dissolved recently in the wake of arrests of its leaders. He also led the delegation that met the minister on Apr 19 and demanded an end to the crackdown.

The home minister had said at the time that the police were arresting culprits after identifying them from videos and images of the violence.

Launched in 2010, Hifazat came into prominence after it opposed the Ganajagaran Mancha, which came into being in 2013 to push for trial of crimes against humanity committed during the 1971 Liberation War.

On May 5 in 2013, Hifazat conducted mayhem in Dhaka’s Motijheel. The group’s protests later were less violent, but its leaders’ radical views on some issues such as secular bloggers, statues and of women, however, drew criticism and angst on a number of occasions.

Activists of the Qawmi madrasa-based organisation carried out deadly violence in parts of Bangladesh by the end of March in protest against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit during the 50th anniversary celebrations of Bangladesh. The protesters objected to his government’s policy towards Muslims.

The police then arrested hundreds of people, including a number of top Hifazat leaders, in dozens of cases over the violence.

Despite being an “apolitical” organisation, Hifazat aimed to grab state power through the protests, the police said. 

Under pressure due to the arrests, Hifazat chief Junaid Babunagari dissolved the central committee on Apr 25 and formed a five-strong convening committee, but arrests of its leaders have continued.

On Tuesday, the police arrested Abdur Rahim Quasemi, a member of its last central committee, on charges of recent violence in Brahmanbaria after he had denounced the mayhem.