PM Assures: Nothing Against Quran and Sunnah Will Be Done
Prime Minister Tarique Rahman on Sunday visited Babunagar Al-Jameatul Uloom Madrasa in Fatikchhari, Chattogram, where he met Hefazat-e-Islam Amir Allama Shah Muhibbullah Babunagari and held a discussion with senior Islamic scholars. During a private meeting, the Prime Minister exchanged greetings with Babunagari, inquired about his health and sought his prayers. “Huzur, I have come to ask for your prayers,” Mr Tarique Rahman said. At the formal discussion, Hefazat leaders presented a nine-point set of demands concerning Islamic values, justice, education and national affairs.
Responding to concerns over laws conflicting with Islam, the Prime Minister said, “I am a Muslim. I have always stood for Islam wholeheartedly.” He noted that the Constitution mentions full faith and trust in Allah and recognises Islam as the state religion. “It is beyond imagination that anything contrary to the Quran and Sunnah will be done by our government,” he said. The Prime Minister thanked the ulema for their support during the recent national election and sought their continued cooperation in the government’s efforts for public welfare and development.
During a prayer session, Babunagari prayed for the government’s success and urged Allah to protect it from domestic and international conspiracies, grant Mr Tarique Rahman a long life, and preserve Bangladesh’s independence and sovereignty. Hefazat’s demands include enacting a law prescribing the highest punishment for insulting Allah, the Prophet (PBUH), the Quran and Islam, and preventing laws that conflict with the Quran and Sunnah. It also demanded exemplary punishment for those involved in the May 5, 2013 violence at Shapla Chattar, the 2021 anti-Modi protests and the July-August 2024 killings.
Other demands include full implementation of Dawra-e-Hadith’s recognition as equivalent to a master’s degree, including for government recruitment; making Islamic education compulsory for Muslim students from primary through higher-secondary levels; declaring the Ahmadiyya community non-Muslim; banning Hizb ut-Tahrir; and stopping alleged missionary activities in the Chattogram Hill Tracts. Hefazat also demanded withdrawal of cases filed against Islamic scholars during the previous Awami League government and their involvement in state reconstruction. It called for maintaining the ban on Indian preacher Maulana Saad’s entry into Bangladesh and preventing his followers from holding Ijtema at Tongi. Several government ministers, MPs and senior BNP leaders attended the meeting. Hefazat leaders described the Prime Minister’s visit as a significant moment in relations between the government and the country’s Islamic scholars.
