No Majority–Minority Divide in Bangladesh, Says Jamaat Ameer Dr Shafiqur Rahman

Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Dr Shafiqur Rahman has declared that there will be no majority–minority distinction in the country, stating that Bangladesh belongs to all its citizens, regardless of religion or ethnicity.

Addressing an election rally on Thursday at the ATM field in Naogaon, he said, “This country does not belong to Muslims alone. It belongs equally to Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, Santals—everyone.”

The Jamaat chief said some of his former associates had participated in what he described as a campaign of false allegations against him. “I have forgiven them. May Allah forgive them as well,” he said, adding that he neither responded to nor would respond to what he termed propaganda and misinformation against him.

Dr Shafiqur Rahman assured equal rights and security for all citizens, emphasizing the need to create an environment where no oppressor dares to look at women with ill intent.

Referring to the July uprising, he said young men and women, along with farmers and workers, had taken to the streets not demanding unemployment allowances, but jobs. He pledged to make the youth skilled through education and training to ensure employment opportunities.

He further said that if Jamaat comes to power, the feudal-style politics currently prevailing in the country would be abolished. “We will judge people only by their merit and patriotism,” he said, adding that leadership should not be inherited by lineage. He expressed hope that even a talented child of a rickshaw puller could one day become the prime minister.

The Jamaat Ameer also said that if elected, his party would take steps to recover money laundered abroad and deposit it into the state treasury. He vowed that no one would be allowed to engage in extortion under a Jamaat-led government.