Awami Olama League factions have accused each other of having links with the outlawed Ansarullah Bangla Team.
Published : 22 Oct 2015, 11:31 PM
At a press conference on Wednesday, the faction led by Ilias Hossain bin Helali and Delwar Hossain had accused the leaders of their rival faction of having Ansarullah ties.
Reacting to the accusation on Thursday, the group led by Akhter Hossain Bokhari and Abul Hasan Sheikh Shariatpuri levelled counter charges at their opponents.
They issued a statement, they said, in protest against the ‘canard’ spread by the Helali faction.
The statement said: “Helali has proved himself to be an Ansarullah member by labelling us Ansarullah. For, only one Ansarullah member recognises another. How could he have recognised us, if he is not a member of the Ansarullah Bangla Team?
“So, his Ansurullah connection will be exposed if he is taken into custody and grilled.”
The Bokhari and Shariatpuri faction has also alleged that Helali’s father was a ‘Razakar’ during the 1971 Liberation War.
Helali, who is from Bagerhat, claims to represent the main stream of the Olama League, an assertion Bokhari and Shariatpuri strongly contest.
“Helali, who claims [to lead the] Olama League has not held the number of human chain we organised for the banning of IS militants and Jamaat(-e-Islami), war criminals and fundamentalists as we have.”
Refuting allegations of having links with the Hifazat-e Islam, Bokhari and Shariatpuri said they were in the field with Prime Minister’s Advisor HT Imam at the time of the Hifazat movement.
“Where was Helali then? He was not present in the first meeting or in the programme. As a matter of fact, he never showed up because of his ties with the Hifazat.
“He claims to be the self-proclaimed president of the Olama League by virtue of forming a committee with a few truck drivers, some helpers, hijackers, and pickpockets.”
Although the two factions operate under the name Olama League, they are not the ruling Awami League’s approved affiliate organisations.
The two sides had fought a pitched battle in front of National Press Club recently while trying to hold their programmes.
The Bokhari and Shariatpuri faction has held the Helali group responsible for the fracas and say they have started a case against them at Shahbagh Police Station.