Jamaat ameer denies reports of secret meeting with India, calls them misleading
In a Facebook post today, he said that in response to the question, he said, “I told them that after I fell ill around the middle of last year and returned home following treatment, many people from home and abroad came to visit me”
Jamaat-e-Islami ameer Shafiqur Rahman has rejected reports claiming that he held a secret meeting with India, describing such coverage by sections of the local media as misleading and unfounded.
He said, during an interview with international news agency Reuters yesterday (30 December), a Reuters journalist had asked him whether there had been any contact, talks or meetings with India, given that it is a neighbouring country.
In a Facebook post today, he said that in response to the question, he said, "I told them that after I fell ill around the middle of last year and returned home following treatment, many people from home and abroad came to visit me."
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He added that diplomats from several countries had visited him at his residence during that period, including two Indian diplomats. "Just as I spoke with diplomats from other countries, I also spoke with them," he said.
The Jamaat leader further said that during those discussions, his party had made it clear that visits by foreign diplomats were routinely disclosed publicly. "We told them that we had publicised all the visits made by diplomats, and that we also wanted to publicise your visit," he said.
According to him, the Indian diplomats requested that the visit not be made public.
"We told them that whenever there is a meeting with you in the future on issues related to the interests of the two countries, it will certainly be publicised. There is nothing secret about this," he said.
Expressing surprise at recent media reports, he said, "I am astonished that some local media outlets have reported that there was a secret meeting between India and the Jamaat ameer."
He strongly condemned such reports and urged journalists to refrain from publishing what he termed misleading news without verifying the facts. "I strongly condemn this type of reporting and call upon those concerned to avoid spreading confusing and inaccurate news in the future without knowing the truth," he said.
