C T Online Desk: Jamaat-e-Islami central working committee member and senior leader of Chattogram, Shahjahan Chowdhury, yesterday said that the administration “must be brought under Jamaat’s control”.
Expressing concern that “sacks of money and weapons may enter Bangladesh from a neighbouring country centring the upcoming election”, the Jamaat leader said, “An election can’t be won only with the [vote of] people… we must bring all members of the administration in each constituency under our [Jamaat’s] influence.”
He made these remarks while addressing a conference held at the GEC Convention Hall in Chattogram city on Saturday evening.
The event was chaired by the party’s Chattogram city Ameer Muhammad Nazrul Islam. Jamaat Ameer Dr Shafiqur Rahman was scheduled to be present as chief guest, but was not present on the stage when Shahjahan made the remarks.
His comments went viral on social media, sparking mixed reactions within the party.
In his speech, Shahjahan said, “If the Ameer of Jamaat was here, I would say that elections can’t be won only with people, administration must be brought under our control… I’m talking about each constituency… Those in the administration must all be under us. They must stand up and sit at our command. They will make arrests at our command, file cases at our command.”
He continued, “In each of your constituencies, primary school teachers must speak for the ‘daripalla’ symbol. All teachers of higher secondary schools must speak for the daripalla…”
Addressing a local leader of Fatikchhari, he said, “Police must follow you. The OC must know your schedule in the morning and provide you with protocol.”
