Nayeb-e-Ameer of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Dr.\u00a0Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher today expressed concern over the recent attacks\u00a0on its women activists in different parts across the country.
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\"Despite incidents occurring openly in many areas, the Election Commission\u00a0was playing a \"passive role,\" raising serious questions about the credibility\u00a0of the upcoming national election,\" he told a press onference this afternoon\u00a0at the party's central office in the capital.
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Dr. Taher said Jamaat-e-Islami was the only political party in the country\u00a0where nearly 43 percent of its members were women, numbering no less than 15\u00a0million. \"While the Representation of the People Order (RPO) requires\u00a0political parties to ensure at least 33 percent female participation, Jamaat\u00a0alone has fulfilled this condition\" he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Despite this, he said, a planned propaganda campaign was being carried out to\u00a0portray Jamaat as a party where women were given little importance. \"If\u00a0women's importance is questioned in a party where female participation is the\u00a0highest, then the nation should consider the situation of women in parties\u00a0with much lower representation,\" he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Taher said the election was very close and Jamaat's women activists were\u00a0playing an active role across the country by going door to door to contact\u00a0voters, similar to male party workers.
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According to the party's assessment, he said, Jamaat was likely to receive\u00a0more votes from women voters this time, as women preferred peaceful politics\u00a0over violence and extremism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He claimed that rival political forces had realized the growing role and\u00a0influence of Jamaat's women activists and were therefore launching planned\u00a0attacks, harassment, and intimidation campaigns against them nationwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stating that women represented mothers, sisters, and daughters of the nation,\u00a0Dr. Taher said ensuring their dignity and security was a collective\u00a0responsibility of society. \"Ironically, those who speak the loudest about\u00a0women's rights are now seen attacking women for political reasons,\" he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
He said violence was not limited to women alone, as intimidation and threats\u00a0were being reported in different constituencies. Public threats, including\u00a0warnings of physical harm to Jamaat supporters, were being circulated through\u00a0media and social platforms, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Taher warned that if the election failed to be free, fair, neutral, and\u00a0peaceful, its outcome would not be acceptable either nationally or\u00a0internationally. \"After such massive movements and sacrifices, an\u00a0
unacceptable election would push the nation into a dark and uncertain\u00a0future,\" he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Presenting examples, he cited incidents in Jashore-2, where two women leaders\u00a0were injured in an attack during campaigning on January 25 while in\u00a0Chuadanga, where women activists were obstructed and assaulted while seeking\u00a0votes and in Cumilla, where videos circulated on social media showed women\u00a0
being publicly harassed and their hijabs forcibly removed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\"Similar incidents were also reported in Tangail, Lalmonirhat, Bhola,\u00a0Keraniganj, and Meherpur, where women activists faced physical assault,\u00a0harassment, hijab pulling, and mobile phone snatching,\" he said, adding that\u00a0in many cases no effective action was taken despite the presence of\u00a0administration, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Dr. Taher said such incidents were part of a strategy to compensate for a\u00a0lack of popular support through violence and attempts to control polling\u00a0centres.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In protest against the attacks on women activists, Dr. Taher announced that\u00a0Jamaat's women wing would hold a women's protest rally at Suhrawardy Udyan at\u00a010:00 am on January 31. He said further rogrammes would be announced by the\u00a0party and its allied 11-party alliance if the situation did not improve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Nayeb-e-Ameer of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami Dr.\u00a0Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher today expressed concern over the recent attacks\u00a0on its women activists in different parts across the country.\u00a0\"Despite incidents occurring openly in many areas, the Election Commission\u00a0was playing a \"passive role,\" raising serious questions about the credibility\u00a0of the upcoming national election,\" he told a press onference this afternoon\u00a0at the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":32117,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1,93,98],"tags":[54],"class_list":["post-32116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bangladesh","category-nationwide","category-politics","tag-54"],"yoast_head":"\n