Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Mohammad Shafiqur Rahman today said that his party’s discussion with the interim government focused on national interests, not on party-specific demands.
“We did not discuss any party demands. We discussed topics of national interests,” Shafiqur told reporters after a delegation of Jamaat met Chief Adviser Prof Muhammad Yunus at the State Guest House Jamuna.
Expressing optimism about this interim government’s role, he added, “We are hopeful that the interim government will solve various problems within a reasonable time.”
“There have been some attacks in different places on people of various religions. But whether these attacks were religiously or politically motivated needs to be investigated,” he said.
“Particularly, significant figures in India are writing post-editorials mentioning our party’s name. However, our leaders and activists are guarding temples….”
While responding to a journalist’s questions, he said, “We do not believe that we are banned just because someone declared us so. The government banned Jamaat-e-Islami to divert the movement.”
“The nation has understood this, which is why people did not accept it…,” claimed the Jamaat chief.
On August 1, Jamaat-e-Islami, its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir and all of its front organisations were banned as political parties and entities under the Anti-Terrorism Act-2009.