SIRAJGANJ — An assistant secretary general of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami said those who speak out against Indian hegemony are being killed in planned attacks, citing the recent death of activist Osman Hadi.
Maulana Rafiqul Islam Khan spoke as chief guest at a memorial discussion and prayer service Saturday afternoon for the late Sharif Osman Hadi at the municipal open stage in Ullapara upazila of Sirajganj.
He said the killings began with the death of slain Jamaat chief Maulana Matiur Rahman Nizami and that Osman Hadi is the latest victim in that pattern.
“We have lost a patriot and a hero of our time,” Rafiqul Islam said. “It is because of the sacrifice and struggle of such people that Bangladesh today is free of autocracy and we can speak freely.”
“From every drop of Osman Hadi’s blood, the fire of hatred against Indian hegemony will burn brighter,” he said.
Demanding the immediate arrest and exemplary punishment of those responsible, he said: “Those who carried out this brutal killing must be brought to swift justice.”
Referring to officials in state positions, he said those now serving as government advisers reached their positions because of movements led by people like Osman Hadi. “It was the state’s duty to ensure the safety of activists who risked their lives fighting fascism, but the state has failed in that duty,” he said.
“How many more revolutionary sons like Osman Hadi must we lose? That question is now before the whole nation,” he said.
After the discussion, Rafiqul Islam led a special prayer for the soul of Osman Hadi.
The event was conducted by Maulana Abdul Bari, office secretary of the upazila Jamaat unit, and chaired by Professor Shahjahan Ali, the upazila Jamaat chief and a former upazila vice chairman.
Special guests included Dr. Nazrul Islam, deputy chief of the upazila Jamaat; general secretary Khairul Islam; former secretary Alauddin Al Azad; publicity and media secretary Ashraful Alam, also known as Muttalib; municipal Jamaat chief Abdul Karim; Babul Akand, president of the upazila labor welfare federation; and Ataur Rahman, president of the party’s youth wing, along with other local and party leaders.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report