Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) Senior Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi on Tuesday strongly criticised, accusing the party of fabricating historical narratives to mask recent controversial remarks about women.
Speaking at a milad and doa mahfil at the BNP’s Nayapaltan central office on the occasion of Shab-e-Barat, Rizvi warned that if Jamaat’s habit of "telling lies" continues, they might eventually claim their late leader Ghulam Azam was the proclaimer of independence.
The friction ignited after Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Dr. Shafiqur Rahman, during an election rally in Chattogram, suggested that the 1971 declaration was initiated there by LDP President Colonel (Retd) Oli Ahmed, who then "led Ziaur Rahman forward."
Rizvi dismissed this as a desperate attempt to divert public anger following the Jamaat chief's derogatory social media comments regarding working women.
“In a few days, you may even say that Ghulam Azam himself was the proclaimer of independence. You can say that too, because you never step back from telling lies,” Rizvi remarked, asserting that the party cannot hide the truth by manufacturing controversies over established facts.
Rizvi reaffirmed that Ziaur Rahman was the sole proclaimer of independence, a role he claimed has been documented even by those who worked alongside the late president.
He pointed out that Oli Ahmed himself, in his own writings and during his tenure as Ziaur Rahman's assistant, never claimed the title of "proclaimer."
“Oli Ahmed never described himself as the proclaimer of independence at any point in his military or professional life,” Rizvi noted, adding that Jamaat’s sudden shift in rhetoric is politically motivated.
Touching upon the party’s wartime record, Rizvi reminded the audience that Jamaat failed to acknowledge the atrocities committed against women in 1971.
“When the Pakistani forces carried out atrocities against our mothers and sisters, you (Jamaat) did not call those acts oppression... Instead, you supported them and provided patronage,” he stated.
Concluding his speech on the spiritual significance of Shab-e-Barat, Rizvi emphasized that while Islam grants women the highest respect, certain quarters are now "exploiting religion" for commercial and political gains, warns that the nationwide outrage over offensive remarks against women cannot be suppressed by "raising false debates."
With Inputs from UNB
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