BNP leaders visit ailing Jamaat chief after rally snub

Staff Reporter :

BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Standing Committee member Dr Abdul Moin Khan visited Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Dr Shafiqur Rahman at Ibne Sina Hospital in Dhaka on Saturday evening.

BNP Media Cell member Shairul Kabir Khan confirmed that Mirza Fakhrul arrived at the hospital in Dhanmondi at around 8:15 pm. Dr Shafiqur fell ill while delivering the closing speech at Jamaat’s national rally at Dhaka’s Suhrawardy Udyan and was taken to the hospital from the venue. Upon learning of his condition, Mirza Fakhrul went to check on him.

Jamaat’s publicity wing chief Ataur Rahman Sarkar later told reporters that Dr Shafiqur’s health had stabilised.

However, BNP did not receive an invitation to attend the rally. BNP Standing Committee member Salahuddin Ahmed said on Saturday that the party was not invited to Jamaat-e-Islami’s national rally held at Suhrawardy Udyan the same day.

“People have asked why none of us attended Jamaat’s rally. How could we attend when we weren’t invited?” he said during a seminar in Banani, adding that even if they had been invited, participation would not have been guaranteed.

Jamaat’s Nayeb-e-Ameer Dr Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher told the media that only parties supporting the proportional representation (PR) system were invited.

A senior Jamaat leader, speaking on condition of anonymity, explained that since BNP opposes the PR system, inviting them might have led to an awkward situation for both sides. “Inviting BNP would have been uncomfortable for both parties,” the leader said.

BNP and Jamaat had a political alliance spanning over two decades since 1999, including a coalition government from 2001 to 2006. However, the alliance was formally dissolved by mutual agreement in December 2022.