If you have suffered from us, apologize: Jamaat Ameer

Ameer of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Dr. Shafiqur Rahman has sought apology from everyone who may have been harmed due to the party or any of its activists anywhere in the country.

“We, as a party, do not claim we are above all mistakes. We seek unconditional apology to everyone whoever has been harmed because of the party or any of its activists anywhere. Please, forgive us. Please forgive us even if you are hurt because of our conduct and any performance,” he said.

The Jamaat ameer was addressing an emergency media conference in the capital’s Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh (IDEB) around 12:00 pm on Tuesday.

The press conference was organised over a Supreme Court verdict that acquitted Jamaat leader ATM Azharul Islam of the crimes committed against humanity during the liberation war in 1971. This verdict has proved that the truth cannot be suppressed, Shafiqur Rahman stated.

The Jamaat ameer further said several burning issues for the nation are still unresolved. He urged all the political parties to prioritise the interests of the people.

“If Allah wishes, we promise, we will put an end to the politics of vengeance and discrimination if we get the responsibility of serving the nation with the support of the people. Taking the help of the people we will try our best to dispel discrimination from the society,” he added.

The Jamaat ameer said, “We faced severe injustice during the regime of Sheikh Hasina. Our top 11 leaders were killed through trumped up cases, staged court and false witnesses.”

ATM Azharul Islam got justice, he said, adding that he has been acquitted of all the accusations brought against him. According to him, limitless falsehood was adopted to conduct the cases.

He said former Chief Justice SK Sinha in his book acknowledged how the judiciary and the government made a cool-headed plan for killing instead of conducting a trial. An environment was created so that no one could protest against this. The Jamaat ameer said the family members were tortured after each verdict which destroyed the families.

Shafiqur Rahman said the international customary laws or the domestic customary laws were not adopted while conducting the cases. Neither the constitution nor the law was an issue on that day. The wishes, be it legal or illegal, of those who ran the court were the main issues.

The Jamaat ameer said the UK High Court in a verdict said the cases were “genocide of justice”. They did not say “killing of justice” because this was not about a single lawsuit.

Shafiqur Rahman further said the Bangladesh Supreme Court today said “miscarriage of justice”. This was a genocide of leaders. The motive was to make the party leaderless. But they (Jamaat) did not take revenge, they sought justice.