Offer apology or stay away
Intellectuals tell Jamaat
STAFF REPORTER
Intellectuals leaning towards the BNP have this time suggested that the Jamaat-e-Islami should either seek apology for its role during the War of Liberation or stay away from the BNP-led 20-Party Alliance. At a meeting with BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia on Thursday, pro-BNP intellectuals and members of civil society had advised her to sever ties with the Jamaat, or ask the party to seek apology from the nation for its anti-Liberation role.
The Jamaat should either seek apology from the nation for its anti-Liberation role during the War of Liberation, or should stay away (from the 20-Party Alliance) by its own good judgment in the national and public interest, said former vice-chancellor of Dhaka University, Prof. Dr Emajuddin Ahmed. Addressing a meeting at Dhaka Reporters Unity, he said since the Jamaat is part of the 20-Party Alliance, it could be treated by certain quarters as an obstacle to forge national unity.
The Doctors Association of Bangladesh (DAB) organised the meeting on national unity to resist terrorism. Dr AKM Azizul Haque, president of DAB, chaired the meeting. Prof. Ahmed, however, said most of the Jamaat leaders and activists were born after the War of Liberation and are sons of the soil. I think there would not be any objection if they offer an apology to the nation for the mistakes of their predecessors during the War of Liberation, he said.
The former DU vice-chancellor said the BNP chairpersons call for national unity has created an opportunity to launch a bigger movement and the party should utilise the prospect.
He alleged that the government had failed to make a call to the nation to get united against terrorism and militancy and thus it should quit power.
Eminent freedom fighter and Gonoshasthya Kendra founder, Dr Zafrullah Chowdhury, described militancy as a protest, but not appropriate and acceptable.
