Jamaat challenges Rashed to prove allegation of Porwar’s meeting with Indian intelligence official

The Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has challenged Prime Minister’s Special Assistant Mohammad Rashed Khan to prove his allegation that the party’s secretary general, Mia Golam Porwar, held a secret meeting with a senior Indian intelligence official.

In response to the allegation, Jamaat also said it had doubts about the mental and political soundness of those spreading such false information.

In a statement issued on Tuesday, the party strongly condemned and protested reports published in various media outlets alleging that Porwar had met an intelligence agency from a foreign country.

Ahsanul Mahboob Zubair, secretary of Jamaat’s publicity and media department, said in the statement that the party conducted its political activities through constitutional means and maintained diplomatic relations with foreign countries while upholding the dignity of the state.

However, he said, reports had recently appeared in various media outlets claiming that Jamaat Secretary General Mia Golam Porwar had met an intelligence agency from a foreign country in what the party described as a conspiracy to tarnish its reputation.

The statement urged the country’s media outlets to verify the accuracy of the information and the truth of the allegations before publishing reports on matters of national importance. It also called on citizens to remain alert to false information and propaganda and not to be misled.

Ahsanul Mahboob Zubair challenged those who had circulated what he called false information about Jamaat’s secretary general to prove their claims.

“They should disclose the truth of the allegations before the nation,” he said, adding that attempts to discredit the party’s secretary general through false information would not succeed.

On Monday, Rashed Khan wrote in a Facebook post that Porwar, Jamaat leader ATM Masum and one other person had met a senior Indian intelligence official at a house in Baridhara, Dhaka on 16 September.

“Those who speak against India throughout the day—why, and in whose interests, did they take part in a secret meeting with this Indian intelligence official? Meeting an Indian diplomat and meeting a senior Indian intelligence official are not the same thing,” Rashed wrote in his post.

The prime minister’s special assistant further wrote, “If Mia Golam Porwar practises ethical politics, I hope he will clarify the details of this secret meeting. Otherwise, it will have to be assumed that Jamaat is involved in a deep conspiracy against the state.”

He added that the first step in the conspiracy was a plan by Jamaat to launch a movement alongside the Awami League.