Habibul Islam Habib, the BNP’s defeated candidate in the Satkhira-1 (Tala-Kolaroa) constituency and current administrator of the district council, has alleged vote-rigging in the last national election. He also branded Jamaat-e-Islami’s upazila assistant secretary, principal Ashfaqur Rahman Bipu, a “Rajshahi University terrorist”. Kolaroa Upazila Jamaat-e-Islami has protested against these remarks.
Habib made the allegations while speaking at an event to inaugurate an LGED road at Singhalal Bazar in Jalalabad union of Kolaroa upazila on Saturday. He claimed that Jamaat’s candidate, principal Muha. Izzat Ullah, had been elected MP by rigging votes using the administration. Habib further alleged that 200 to 300 votes had been cast on each ballot in favour of the scales symbol, that madrasa teachers had been made agents to rig votes, and that voters had been influenced by giving money inside packets of puffed rice and peanuts and by distributing money among the poor under cover of night.
Rejecting Habib’s allegations as “entirely false, fabricated and baseless”, Kolaroa Upazila Jamaat ameer Maulana Muha. Kamaruzzaman protested. In a statement to the media on 10 August, he said such serious allegations about an election needed specific evidence, and that without proof, such statements served no purpose but to confuse the public. He said principal Ashfaqur Rahman was an “oppressed public leader and former student leader”, and claimed the remarks against him were aimed at damaging his social and political image; presenting a past incident in a distorted way to brand someone a “terrorist” was in no way acceptable. He said the smear campaign against Jamaat and its assistant secretary Ashfaqur Rahman Bipu was a conspiracy by politically bankrupt and morally defeated forces, alleging that a quarter, fearing loss of public support, was spreading misleading information to gain political advantage. Kamaruzzaman said public support cannot be won or changed through lies and propaganda, as people are now far more aware and will decide by weighing reality and work alongside political rhetoric.
After Habib called him a “Rajshahi University terrorist”, principal Bipu responded, claiming the incident involving him at Rajshahi University was not linked to any terrorist act; rather, he had been injured while rescuing a person from danger. Naming the current chairman of Islamkati union in Tala upazila, Golam Faruk, as a witness, he said the real facts could be learned by speaking to him. Bipu called on his political opponents to refrain from personal attacks and spreading false information, and urged everyone to ensure that political differences do not descend into lies, propaganda or character assassination. Political differences may exist, he said, but one’s position should be presented to the people through constructive political competition; he also called for an end to spreading false and misleading information against Jamaat-e-Islami and its leaders and activists.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report