By Manik Miazee in Dhaka Tribune, March 11, 2017
Aiming at making all Islamic parties run for the next general election independently, Islami Oikya Jote, a religion-based political party, is working so that the parties do not contest the polls under any alliance, said party sources.
The IOJ wants its like-minded Islamic parties to work together for Islam and the country’s interest, but is not interested to make any alliance with large political parties including the BNP and Awami League, said Mufti Faizullah, secretary general of a faction of the party.
During an interview with the Dhaka Tribune,, also the secretary of radicalised group Hefazat-e-Islam’s Dhaka city unit, claimed that they were focusing more on the country’s current political status and next election.
When asked about the new election commission, he said that they were neither happy nor disappointed with the constitutional body.
Hoping that the commission will work neutrally to hold the polls freely and fairly, Faizullah said: “It [election commission] should be strong enough to take a right decision for national interest by organising an inclusive election to help resolve political unrest.”
According to him, the commission can come out successful in doing so if the government does not intervene into its activities.
He, however, is not bothered about the political background of the search panel members who helped constitute the commission.
Mentioning the role of the election commissioners, he said: “When a person is given charge of a certain post, he or she has to deliver the duty with utmost professionalism. If they trust their responsibility and respect their job, only then they can succeed.”
Then again, he raised his eye brows saying: “I do not know how many people in the country are impartial?”
Talking about Hefazat’s activities, Faizullah claimed that the government have realised the necessity of the 13-point demand the Qawmi madrasa-based organisation had issued in 2013, starting taking measures to fulfill those.
“The government has identified the people behind the conflicts between it and Hefazat,” he said, without mentioning their names.
About IOJ’s alleged link to the attack on Hindu families in Nasirnagar of Brahmanbaria, he defended his party, claiming that they are always concerned about the rights of minorities.
Faizullah attributed the Nasirnagar attacks to the dispute among the ruling party’s local factions.
He voiced to be quite elated when asked about the errors in the textbooks that reflect the ideology of Hefazat.
“The government has fulfilled the demands of the majority of the masses by the new textbooks. The government did not bring the changes. Rather, the NCTB returned to the previous versions of textbooks,” he continued.
Faizullah hoped that the government will change the education policy and education law with respect to public sentiment and the country’s Muslim-majority society.
On a separate note, he claimed that there was no link between terrorist group Islamic State and Hefazat.
He also claimed that they never support the murders of bloggers and secular people, but declined to answer why they never protest blogger killings.
He, nevertheless, alleged that the assassinations of Imams or madrasa students were getting less coverage in the media.
http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/politics/2017/03/11/ioj-gearing-next-polls-independently/
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