Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Shafiqur Rahman on Monday said “some people” are out to “dishonour” the Islamist party for speaking out against repression of women.

In reality, if Jamaat is voted to power in the 12 February elections, the party leaders would hold women in the highest esteem, he said at an election rally held at Baharchhara area of Cox’s Bazar town.

As part of its women-focused initiatives, Jamaat will make women’s education free until the master’s studies, Shafiqur said.

If the Jamaat-led 11-party alliance forms the next government, it would work to establish justice for all in the country. Every crime committed in the past could be forgiven, except the Awami League regime’s atrocities during the July-August 2024 uprising, the Jamaat chief said.

New Bangladesh will emerge by winning people’s hearts

Earlier, Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Dr Shafiqur Rahman has expressed optimism that Bangladesh will change from 13 February if voters cast their ballots in favor of the party’s electoral symbol, the scale.

He made the remarks on Monday while addressing an election rally in Maheshkhali of Cox’s Bazar.

Addressing the gathering, the Jamaat chief said, “Our mothers lack two things—dignity and security. Society has failed to ensure dignity for mothers and has failed to ensure their safety. God willing, we will ensure adequate security and respect for mothers at home, in public movement, and in the workplace.”

He said victory and defeat lie in the hands of Allah, adding that the ideology of the 11-party alliance is not about winning at any cost. “By winning the hearts of the people, God willing, a new Bangladesh will emerge on the 12th. On that day, the people of this country will place their hands on their chests and say, ‘I am Bangladesh. This is my Bangladesh,’” he said.

Dr. Shafiqur Rahman further claimed that it would be possible to change the country’s landscape within five years. “There will be no theft, no extortion, no looting. If people vote for the scale, God willing, you will see that Bangladesh has changed from the 13th,” he added.

At the rally, the Jamaat ameer also announced that if the party comes to power, Jamaat candidate Hamidur Rahman Azad would be made a minister from the Cox’s Bazar-2 constituency.