Hefazat lays out 9-point agenda
Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh has presented Prime Minister Tarique Rahman with a set of nine-point demand covering religious affairs, legal reforms, madrasa education and several politically sensitive cases, seeking greater involvement of Islamic scholars in state affairs.
The demands were submitted on Sunday during a meeting between the prime minister and senior Hefazat leaders at Al-Jamiatul Islamia Babunagar Madrasa in Fatikchhari, Chattogram.
A memorandum outlining the demands was handed to Tarique Rahman by Hefazat Secretary General Muhammad Sajedur Rahman.
Among its key demands, the organisation called for legislation prescribing the maximum penalty for acts it considers disrespectful towards Allah, the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), the Holy Quran and Islam.
It also urged the government not to enact any law that it considers contrary to the Quran and Sunnah.
Hefazat demanded exemplary punishment for those responsible for the killings during the 5 May 2013 violence at Shapla Chattar.
It also called for legal action against those involved in the 2021 anti-Narendra Modi protests and the killings during July and August 2024, including those who allegedly ordered the violence and those who carried it out.
The organisation called for full implementation of the recognition of the Qawmi madrasa qualification in Dawra-e-Hadith as equivalent to a master’s degree, saying this would expand higher education and employment opportunities for graduates at home and abroad.
It also demanded that Dawra-e-Hadith certificates issued by Qawmi madrasas be recognised alongside government madrasa degrees as valid educational qualifications in government recruitment notices.
Hefazat further called for Islamic religious education to be made compulsory for Muslim students from primary through higher secondary education.
The organisation also called for the Qadiani community to be declared non-Muslim and for Hizbut Tawhid to be banned.
It urged the government to stop what it described as “subversive activities” by domestic and foreign missionaries in the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
Hefazat also demanded the withdrawal of what it described as “false” cases filed against Islamic scholars during the Awami League government’s tenure and called for religious scholars to be included as partners in the country’s reconstruction.
Hefazat also raised the long-running dispute within Tabligh Jamaat over the Bishwa Ijtema.
The organisation said Tabligh Jamaat activities and the Tongi Bishwa Ijtema had traditionally been conducted under the supervision of the Ulama, or Islamic scholars.
It demanded that the existing ban on the entry of India’s Maulana Saad into Bangladesh remain in place and that the Saad-aligned faction not be permitted to organise an Ijtema at the Tongi grounds.
A discussion between Tarique Rahman and senior Hefazat scholars began at 4pm on Sunday at Babunagar Madrasa.
The meeting was chaired by Hefazat Amir Allama Shah Muhibbullah Babunagari and attended by around 70 prominent Islamic scholars from different parts of the country.
Finance and Planning Minister Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury, Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmad, State Minister for Chittagong Hill Tracts and Land Mir Helal, the MP for North Chittagong, and other relevant government officials also attended the meeting.
Earlier, at around 3:20pm, Tarique Rahman arrived in Fatikchhari by helicopter and paid a courtesy call on Allama Shah Muhibbullah Babunagari.
The meeting comes as the government engages with religious and political groups on a range of issues relating to law, education, religious affairs and the country’s broader political and institutional landscape.
