Threat To Sultana: Take legal steps against Hefajat

Forty-two eminent persons yesterday slammed Hefajat-e-Islam's ultimatum that Sultana Kamal must be arrested or forced out of the country for what they claim was her derogatory comment about mosques, something the rights activist denied.

They termed the radical Islamist organisation's ultimatum “arrogant” and urged the government to take legal action against them immediately.

Tap here to add The Daily Star as a trusted source

"An ill-motivated effort is being made to misconstrue the words of rights activist Sultana Kamal," read a statement issued by them.

They also called for a united effort to resist the communal force rising in Bangladesh.

“This group is misleading the general public through misinterpretations of the religion one after another and engaging in conspiracies to destabilise Bangladesh," it added.

"It will not be possible to uphold the spirit of the Liberation War, if [we] do not stand firm against one after another crimes and oppression by such fundamentalist groups that misuse the religion,” the statement said. 

Signatories of the statement include Rasheda K Choudhury, Hameeda Hossain, Prof Serajul Islam Chowdhury, Selina Hossain, Mofidul Haque, Muhammad Zafar Iqbal, Aroma Dutta, Khushi Kabir, Salma Ali and Sara Hossain.

From a rally in front of the Baitul Mukarram Mosque in the capital on Friday, Hefajat leaders issued a 24-hour ultimatum to the government to arrest Sultana within or else send her into exile. 

Rights activists said the threat was in violation of her constitutional right to freedom of speech.

Hefajat's threat came after a recent television talk show, now available on YouTube.

Sultana Kamal, Hefajat leader Mufti Shakhawat Hossain, Gonojagoron Mancha Spokesperson Imran H Sarker and former Awami League lawmaker Apu Ukil took part in the programme hosted by Dhaka University teacher Robaet Ferdous.

In the show, Shakhawat, referring to the statue of Lady Justice on the Supreme Court premises, said there should be no religious structures on court premises, Sultana told The Daily Star on Friday.  

"I said, yes, I agree with you. There should be no religious structures inside court premises. Not even mosques," she said.