Saturday 16 March 2013

Clear stand on banning Jamaat, govt urged
A platform of Bangladesh’s eminent citizens has urged the government to clarify its position on the issue of outlawing the Jamaat-e-Islami.
Addressing a convention in Dhaka on Saturday, the leaders of the Nagarik Samaj also called for publishing a white paper on the recent nationwide violence by the Jamaat and its student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir.

The meeting was organised demanding a ban on the Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir alleging their involvement in war crimes and extremist-related activities.

Several top teachers, journalists, writers, human rights activists and others joined the rally.

Sarwar Ali, Trustee of the Liberation War Museum, read out the declaration.

It said, “The Jamaat and the Shibir must be banned from Bangladesh’s politics as war criminals and extremist organisations.”

Ali also demanded the government publish a white paper on the countrywide violence unleashed by the Jamaat-Shibir men after the war crimes trials started.

“Any clear statement of the government on the activities of the Jamaat-Shibir is absent,” he said.

Mohammad A Arafat, one of the organisers of the rally told bdnews24.com that they had organised the rally to express solidarity with the on-going movement seeking a ban on the Jamaat-e-Islami that had opposed the 1971 Liberation War.

Courtesy: BDNews24.com