‘Look at yourself in the mirror’

Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar yesterday responded to BNP Secretary General Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir’s call for Jamaat to apologise to the nation for opposing Bangladesh’s independence in 1971 by questioning the BNP’s own record on the issue.

“After coming to power, the BNP appointed at least 14 or 15 people who had supported Pakistan’s unity and opposed Bangladesh’s independence as ministers, MPs, presidents and prime ministers,” he said at a press conference at the Jatiya Press Club.

“So, the BNP should answer for that,” Porwar said at the event organised to announce Jamaat’s 36-day programme marking the second anniversary of the July uprising.

Pointing to Fakhrul, Porwar said, “Look at yourself in the mirror... There are allegations that your father was an offender. You should therefore choose your words carefully.”

According to some Awami League leaders, Fakhrul’s father Mirza Ruhul Amin, a Muslim League leader, was a member of the Peace Committee in 1971. However, Fakhrul denies the allegation, saying his father was in India during the war.

On his party’s position during the Liberation War, Porwar said, “Under the political realities of Pakistan at that time, many political parties took positions they believed would protect the country from Indian aggression. The leaders of those parties explained their positions to the nation at the time. Many of them are no longer alive. People may agree or disagree with those explanations; that remains a matter of political debate.”

Referring to the BNP’s past alliance with Jamaat, he questioned why the party had not raised the issue when the two were political allies for many years.

Porwar said the BNP lacked the political and moral grounds to confront Jamaat and was therefore resorting to raising “old, settled issues” to mislead the public.

“But they will not achieve what they hope to achieve,” he said.

Porwar also criticised sections of the media, alleging that some newspapers owned by business groups were effectively acting as mouthpieces for a political party.

“If the media is driven by such political vendettas and falsehoods, should we also follow that undesirable path in protesting against them? We do not want to.”