Asif joined Jamaat alliance to get immunity from allegations: Rashed Khan

Prime Minister's Political Assistant (Secretary rank) Rashed Khan has said, regarding the corruption allegations raised against National Citizen Party (NCP) spokesperson and former adviser Asif Mahmud Sajib Bhuiyan, that Asif Mahmud joined the Jamaat alliance to secure immunity from various corruption allegations and political pressure and to protect himself.

Rashed Khan made these remarks in a post on his verified Facebook account on Sunday, September 13.

In the Facebook post, Rashed Khan claimed that when Asif Mahmud was in an anti-Jamaat position, all the allegations brought against him were true. He also claimed that at that time, despite a request from Dr Muhammad Yunus, the Jamaat Ameer did not give him nomination for the Dhaka-10 seat due to the corruption allegations.

Rashed Khan said that now that Asif Mahmud is practising the politics of the Jamaat alliance, all the allegations brought against him are being called baseless.

He further said that at present, whether a person is a criminal or innocent depends on whether he is with Jamaat or not. He remarked that if someone does Jamaat politics or supports Jamaat, all his crimes are washed away and he becomes a "complete angel".

Rashed Khan claimed that Asif Mahmud joined the Jamaat alliance to get immunity from the allegations. In his words, Asif Mahmud is now completely innocent and unblemished. However, he also remarked that the situation could change again if NCP leaves the Jamaat alliance in the future.

Rashed Khan also questioned Asif Mahmud's change in political position. He said Asif Mahmud took a "safe exit" from the Dhaka South City Corporation area to keep himself "safe". He also claimed that after a situation where Jamaat would not let him stay in Dhaka South, he moved to the north.

He later remarked that Asif Mahmud would sit down by supporting Jamaat leader Selim Uddin. Rashed Khan also commented that it is regrettable that an important spokesperson of the mass uprising has to take Jamaat's support to save himself from corruption allegations.