Hefazat agrees with BNP on polls by December: Salahuddin

Hefazat-e-Islam has reached an consensus with the BNP regarding the call for the national election to take place by December this year, BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed said yesterday (5 April).

"Hefazat-e-Islam and its allies will devise appropriate strategies to ensure that the election is held on time," he told journalists after a meeting between BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and the leaders of Hefazat-e-Islam at the BNP chairperson's office in Gulshan yesterday evening.

Salahuddin claimed that both the parties reached an consensus on the issue of election in the meeting which was focused on various issues including cases filed against Hefazat-e-Islam leaders, the trial of genocide, electoral reforms and the upcoming parliamentary elections.

He said their high demand is that the chief adviser must urgently announce an election roadmap so that the national election can be held by December.

"Just as we want reforms, we want justice for genocide, but the issue of advancing the democratic process must be our top priority," he added.

Salahuddin went on to express concerns about delays in the election process, stating, "The chief adviser had assured us about the December elections, and it was reiterated multiple times before the nation.

"However, there has been a shift in timeline, with suggestions that the elections might be pushed from December to June, and then again from June to December. We are witnessing various efforts to delay the elections and we cannot accept this."

Salahuddin also spoke about the brutal crackdown on Hefazat-e-Islam activists during the past regime of the Awami League, highlighting the 2013 Shapla Chattar massacre, in which many lives were lost. 

"We demand justice for the victims of the Shapla Chattar massacre," he said.

The BNP leader further said the party supports the demand for justice regarding the killing of 24 religious scholars and madrasa students in 2021 during another government crackdown in Chattogram and Brahmanbaria.

Salahuddin also criticised the previous government for framing false charges against religious scholars and activists, which led to years of imprisonment and torture. He urged the interim government to withdraw all such false cases immediately.

The BNP leader called for trial of Awami League for its role in the "genocide" during July uprising and crimes against humanity. 

"We have publicly demanded the prosecution of the Awami League as a political party for its involvement in genocide and crimes against humanity. We urge the government to take this matter seriously and consider legal amendments if needed," he said.

The meeting with Hefazat-e-Islam was led by its Secretary General Maulana Sajedur Rahman, and included its Nayeb-e-Ameer Ahmed Abdul Kader, Maulana Bahuddin Zakaria, Maulana Mohiuddin Rabbani, Senior Joint Secretary General Maulana Junaid Al Habib, Joint Secretary General Maulana Mahfuzul Haque, Maulana Azizul Haque Islamabadi and Finance Secretary Mufti Monir Hossain Kasemi.