Allah made men in-charge of women, top position not main issue: Jamaat women's wing leader
The women’s wing warns against obstructing female voters.
Placing a woman in top leadership position is not the main issue for Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, the party's women's wing Secretary Nurunnisa Siddiqua said today (1 February), citing Quranic principles that place men in a managerial role over women.
"Jamaat is an Islamic organisation. We follow the principles of the Quran. Allah has said in the Quran that men are in-charge of women. Therefore, having a woman in the top post [ameer] is not our primary concern," she told reporters at the Nirbachan Bhaban in Dhaka after a meeting between a Jamaat delegation and the Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) AMM Nasir Uddin.
"What matters most to us is whether women's rights are being ensured," she added.
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Nurunnisa also claimed that women have significant representation within Jamaat's organisational structure, noting that some 43% of members in the party's Majlis-e-Shura advisory committee are women.
During the meeting, the women's wing also submitted a memorandum to the Election Commission, alleging attacks on female activists and a "deep conspiracy" ahead of the upcoming election. They warned that any attempt to obstruct women voters would be resisted.
The delegation also included the women's wing Assistant Secretary Saida Rahman and In-Charge of Political Affairs Habiba Chowdhury.
Speaking to reporters, Habiba said women make up 50% of the country's voters and deserve to vote in a fair and peaceful environment.
"For the last 15 to 16 years, many of our mothers and sisters could not exercise their voting rights. Now a section is conspiring to deprive them again," she said, adding that documented evidence of attacks on female Jamaat activists in 15 locations had been submitted to the commission.
Habiba further said that after receiving the memorandum, the commissioners listened to the complaints attentively and assured that necessary steps would be taken.
