Jamaat chief will not contest polls

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Salman Tareque Sakil
Published : 00:55, Nov 18, 2018 | Updated : 00:59, Nov 18, 2018

Jamaat chief Maqbul Ahmad is not running as an MPAfter losing its registration with the Election Commission, BNP’s long-time trusted ally Jamaat-e-Islami has decided that its candidates will contest as independent aspirants but its chief Maqbul Ahmad is not running as an MP.
Ahmad, who has contested from a Feni constituency, has decided not to contest for health conditions due to old age complicacies, Central Executive Committee member Ehsanul Mahbub Zubaer told Bangla Tribune.
The chiefs of its Dhaka North, Sylhet and Gazipur metro units are also not contesting, sources confirmed.
After serving as the acting chief for more than six years being underground after the then-chief Motiur Rahman Nijami’s arrest, Maqbul was elected Jamaat’s Ameer in 2016.
The same year Nijami was executed for crimes against humanity during Bangladesh’s 1971 War of Independence.
Maqbul, who got involved in politics after retiring as a high school teacher, ran on party’s ticket in the 1991 polls from Feni-2 but failed to win.
The investigation arm of the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), formed to try 1971 war criminals, opened a probe against Maqbul in 2016 after he took helm of the party.
ICT probe wing Coordinator Hannan Khan told the media then, “The facts clearly pointed that Maqbul was a Razakar (collaborator). But there were no allegations against him until we opened the probe after an online report. The investigation is continuing and the decision to prosecute him will be taken later.”
Credible sources at the Jamaat confirmed that despite repeated requests Maqbul has made it clear that his health conditions will not allow contesting the polls.
“We are trying (to persuade him). How does it look if the party chief does not contest,” a policymaking leader told Bangla Tribune but asked not to be named

/zmi/
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