You have committed the misdeeds, Farhad Mazhar tells Jamaat

Criticizing Jamaat-e-Islami over the attack on Shah Ali Shrine in the capital, poet and thinker Farhad Mazhar said, “Now it is becoming clear that you are the ones committing the misdeeds, yet the responsibility is being placed on the shrine.”

He said this at a protest rally organized at the Shah Ali Shrine premises in Mirpur on Sunday (May 17) afternoon. The rally was jointly organized by ‘Sadhugurubhakta o Oli-Auliya Asheqan Parishad’ and ‘Bhabbaithaki’ to protest the attack on devotees and Asheqans at Shah Ali Shrine.

Farhad Mazhar said, “Allegations have been made that Jamaat-e-Islami is involved in this attack. I am saddened to hear this. I saw it in the newspaper. I have told Shafiq Bhai (Jamaat Ameer) before, on what basis did you say before the election that women’s leadership is forbidden in Islam? I called you in a debate, on a television show. You did not come. You say that singing is forbidden. I am calling you in a debate—you did not come. Where is the song forbidden? Which verse are you talking about? What kind of song is forbidden? There is an argument."

Addressing Jamaat, Farhad Mazhar said, "I have said before that we think the bad things that are done at the shrine, the immoral things, need to be stopped, but now it is being proven that you are the ones who are doing the bad things and blaming the shrine. This will not happen, this will not work."

Stating that there will be no revolution if there are no madmen, he said, "The madmen at the shrine were attacked, but when the July mass uprising took place, these madmen put their chests in front of the bullets. If they were not madmen, what did they do with their lives? If there were no madmen, there would be no revolution. If there were no madmen, the state would not be formed. If there were no madmen, the society would not be formed."

Farhad Mazhar said, "We did not get such a state by sacrificing our lives on August 5. We did not get this state by becoming martyrs and cripples. We have a lot of pain in our hearts. Tarique Rahman, there is a lot of pain. You were in London. You are the son of Begum Khaleda Zia. Try to understand the pain of the poor people of this country. Otherwise, you will have to fly away."

Addressing Prime Minister Tarique Rahman, Farhad Mazhar said, "Before you came here (in the country), when we had the August 5th mass uprising, BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari came to the border with people to enter this country. He was trying to prove to the army that the Hindus of this country were throwing acid on their army. They wanted to enter here. Don’t forget. Now they are saying that such shrines are being destroyed in Bangladesh, such Islamic terrorism, there is no need to keep these monotheistic people in the state. They will not even give you the rights that they had in Kashmir. As a result, those of you who are destroying shrines, you are destroying shrines on the orders of Suvendu Adhikari."

Referring to the politics of BJP and West Bengal, Farhad Mazhar said, "They are destroying mosques, destroying areas of different religions, destroying places of worship of people and are putting the whole of India into a conflict. They are creating a battlefield. The entire subcontinent is turning into a battlefield. Please do not accelerate this by attacking this shrine for this politics. Suvendu Adhikari is now the Chief Minister of the BJP party in West Bengal. He will implement the policy of the BJP, the policy of Islam eradication."

Raising three demands regarding the shrine at the rally, Farhad Mazhar said, "We must do politics for the madmen of the shrine in unity. The lease system of the shrine must be stopped. We must ensure that whatever comes to the shrine goes to the poor people here. A khatib and management committee will be appointed for the mosque of the shrine, they must be followers of the order. Even if they are not followers of the order, they must be sensitive to the order."

The attack on Shah Ali Shrine took place late last Thursday (May 14). At that time, ziarat and vow activities were going on there. The plaintiff in the case, Rashmi Begum, alleged that 100 to 150 leaders and activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its affiliated organizations entered the shrine and attacked it. However, Jamaat has denied the allegations. Police have so far arrested three people in the incident.

Shah Ali Police Station OC Jahangir Alam said, "The political identity of the accused could not be confirmed. Initially, we learned that they were leaders and activists of Jamaat-e-Islami."