Jamaat leader claims to have been ‘supporting freedom fighter’

The Chandpur district unit ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami, Billal Hossain Miaji, has said, “Do not look at us with suspicion. I too was a supporting freedom fighter.”

He made the remark in response to a journalist’s question at the Chandpur liberation day event on Monday.

“I too was a supporting freedom fighter. At the time, I was a student of Class-IV. In 1971, boys from our area, including myself, collected rice and lentils for the freedom fighters. We delivered food to them. Yet, 54 years after independence, we are still being viewed with suspicion,” Billal Hossain Miaji said.

To mark the occasion, a procession set out from the Chandpur District Muktijoddha Sangsad premises at 10:00 am. After parading through various roads in the town, it concluded at the base of the Liberation War martyrs’ memorial sculpture “Ongikar”.

Later, government and non-government institutions, the Muktijoddha Sangsad, the district unit Bangladesh Nationalist Party, the district unit of Jamaat-e-Islami, as well as various political parties and social organisations, paid tribute to the martyrs by laying wreaths at the Ongikar memorial.

Prayers were then offered for the martyrs and their families.

The event was attended by the Chandpur deputy commissioner, Md Nazmul Islam Sarkar, along with senior officers and employees from various government departments.