Hefazat leader resigns, seeks justice over vandalism in Brahmanbaria

Hefazat-e-Islam leader Mufti Abdur Rahim Qasemi has resigned from the organisation seeking justice over mayhem in Brahmanbaria carried out by the leaders and activists of the Islamic hardliners.

Hefazat men ran amok in the district in final week of March centering several issues, including the visit of Indian prime minister Narendra Modi.

In a written statement sent to the journalists on Friday afternoon, Rahim Qasemi demanded punishment of those responsible for the violence that ensued on 26 and 28 March.

Qasemi is the former education secretary of Jamia Islamia Yunusia madrasa in Brahmanbaria. He was also a member of Hefazat’s central committee and a joint secretary of Brahmanbaria district unit.

Due to ideological conflict, he was relieved of all duties of madrasa and the organisation from 1 December.

However, he said, he is yet to receive any formal expulsion letter from the district and central unit of Hefazat-e-Islam.

He said that the Hefazat's mayhem on the eve of the visit of Indian PM Narendra Modi was unprecedented and inhumane. Islam doesn’t support the losses of people’s lives and their properties in any way.

When contacted, Abdur Rahim Qasemi told Prothom Alo that Hefazat didn’t formally expel him from the party. He has rendered the resignation letter by his own.