Jamaat-e-Islami, many of whose top leaders have been convicted of and hanged for committing crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War, has joined a preparatory meeting on the rally of Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) president Oli Ahmed’s new political platform in Sylhet.
Oli-led ‘Jatiya Mukti Mancha’ will hold a rally at 3:30pm at the city’s Press Club premises on Tuesday (Jul 16) to press its demands including the release of incarnated BNP chief Khaleda Zia.
“On Monday (Jul 15), local LDP leaders and activists sat in the city’s West Sheikhghat area to chalked out the details on Tuesday’s rally,” its senior joint secretary general Shahadat Hossain Selim told Bangla Tribune.
Sylhet district Jamaat secretary Hafiz Abdul Hye Harun attended the preparatory meeting along with the LDP leaders, added Selim, who is coordinating the rally.
A former army, Oli Ahmed floated the new political forum to press its 18-point demand including a new general election.
Jamaat is believed to act as the catalyst behind Oli’s new platform as the Islamist party wants to maximize the opportunity since it has lost the ground in the country’s politics over the last eight years.
“The Jamaat in 1971 and the Jamaat in 2019 are not the same. They love the country a lot and brought about changes within them,” that was what Oli, a freedom fighter who earned a Bir Bikram award for his heroics against the Pakistan forces and their collaborators during the 1971 War, told a media briefing while announcing the platform ‘Jatiya Mukti Mancha’ on Jun 27.