Case filed against Shishir Monir for hurting religious sentiments

A case has been filed in a Dhaka court against Shishir Monir, Supreme Court lawyer and Jamaat candidate for Sunamganj-2 constituency, on allegations of hurting religious sentiments.

On Sunday, December 7 lawyer Ridwan Hossain Robin lodged the case before the court of Additional Metropolitan Magistrate Jashita Islam. The court accepted the case and instructed the Detective Branch police to submit a report.

The case statement mentions that around 91 per cent of Bangladesh’s population is Muslim. For believers of Islam, faith and religious rituals are extremely sensitive. Muslims believe Allah has no physical form, and fasting is a sacred act performed solely for divine satisfaction, whose reward will be given directly by Allah.

It further states that although followers of Sanatan religion worship idols in physical forms, fasting cannot be compared to such religious practices. According to the complaint, Muslims will not accept such analogy; rather, it may create chaos and anxiety.

It also states that remarks made by Shishir Monir and circulated on the YouTube channel DSN, where fasting and worship were described as “two sides of the same coin”, have directly hurt the religious beliefs of practising Muslims in Bangladesh.

The complaint alleges that Shishir Monir intentionally tried to gain political advantage by hurting the religious sentiments of Muslims through a video where he described fasting and worship as “two sides of the same coin”. This not only caused offence but also stirred unrest among religious Muslims.