Toll Tensions: Jamaat Chief Questions ‘Nationalization’ of Extortion
The Ameer of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, Shafiqur Rahman, has raised questions over whether extortion has effectively been “nationalized” through the newly appointed Road Transport and Bridges Minister of the newly formed government. At the same time, criticizing the government’s role in curbing corruption, he said that from the very beginning it is unclear which direction Bangladesh is heading.
He made these remarks in a Facebook status posted around 8:00 pm on Friday, 20 February.
In the status, the Jamaat Ameer posed a series of questions: “Has extortion been declared nationalized through the Road Transport and Bridges Minister of the newly formed government? If so, how will the throat of corruption be choked? The grammar is not understandable at all. From the very outset, which direction is Bangladesh heading?”
Calling on citizens to speak out against extortion, he further stated, “Dear people, to survive from the black claws of extortion, we must fight. In this struggle, we are with you, InshaaAllah.”
Within an hour, the status went viral. It received thousands of likes and love reactions and was shared several thousand times. However, among the more than 15,000 comments, mixed reactions were observed. Some wrote, “After so long, we have found a halal extortion expert, and another name for it is compromise, hadia.” Others commented, “If the people can vote them to victory, then they can also pay extortion—no problem.” A Telegram link of the Ameer was also shared in the comment section.
DBTech/FBPO/EK/OR
