For all latest news, follow The Financial Express Google News channel.
The BNP has expressed scepticism over Jamaat-e-Islami’s claim that a “misogynistic” post published from the X account of its chief Shafiqur Rahman was the result of hacking.
Jamaat said the post was made after hackers briefly took control of Shafiqur's verified X account. The BNP, however, said the timing of the hacking claim raises serious questions, bdnews24.com reports.
Mahdi Amin, spokesperson of the BNP’s election steering committee and an advisor to party chief Tarique Rahman, said: “It is only natural to question how credible the hacking claim is when it was made around 1:00am—nearly nine hours after the misogynistic post was published and only after criticism intensified.”
The post, shared from Shafiqur's X handle on Saturday, spread widely on social media and sparked strong criticism over Jamaat’s views on women’s leadership and working women.
Later that night, Sirajul Islam, a member of Jamaat’s election steering committee and a former president of the party's student front, Islami Chhatra Shibir, filed a general diary (GD) at Hatirjheel Police Station.
The GD alleged that the post had been published after Shafiqur's verified X account was “hacked”.
Separately, Jamaat issued a statement on Facebook at 12:40am saying: “Using a highly coordinated method, hackers temporarily took control of [the Jamaat chief's] X account. However, through swift action and existing security measures, the party’s cyber team was able to regain control of the account within a short time.
“During this brief period, an unwanted post was published. The post falsely attributed statements to the Jamaat chief. We clearly state that this post or content does not reflect any statement, opinion or position of [Shafiqur]. It is entirely false and misleading.”
Mahdi Amin addressed the issue at a press conference at the BNP’s election coordination office in Gulshan on Sunday.
“We have observed with deep concern the nationwide discussion over the filthy, offensive and degrading language allegedly used against women from the verified X (Twitter) handle of Jamaat-e-Islami ameer Shafiqur Rahman. If this is indeed true, we believe it represents an attempt to push the entire social order into medieval darkness.”
Referring to the post, he said it was published at 4:37pm on Jan 31 and quoted a portion of it, adding that its translation read:
“We believe that when women are pushed out of their homes in the name of modernity, they are subjected to exploitation, moral decay and insecurity. It's nothing but another form of prostitution.”
Mahdi also recalled remarks made by the Jamaat chief in an interview with Al Jazeera a few days earlier, in which he said no woman would ever be able to hold the party’s top position, arguing that God had not created women to lead.
Referring to that interview, Mahdi questioned both the content of the X post and the hacking claim.
“Everyone knows that when an important or verified account is hacked, the first and foremost responsibility is to inform the public as quickly as possible so that misinformation does not spread and people remain alert. But in this case, the hacking claim was made only after public outrage had already spread.
“This naturally raises questions about how credible the claim is. Even during that time, several posts were made on the Jamaat chief's Facebook account, yet we saw no post informing the public that his X account had been hacked.”
Mahdi said Jamaat later went to Hatirjheel Police Station around 3:30am to file the GD, which stated that they had become aware of the hacking at 4:55pm.
“If that is the case, why was the GD filed nearly 12 hours later? Is there any reasonable explanation for such a delay? And how credible is the claim that the account was recovered so quickly after announcing it had been hacked?”
The BNP election steering committee spokesperson said his party supports women’s personal freedom, dignity and equal rights.
Referring again to the post from the Jamaat chief's X account, he said:
“Such language and mindset have no place in a civilised society. This is a blatant expression of misogyny.”
“Sadly, this isn't anything new for this political party. We have seen before that a leader of the same party used similarly obscene language when addressing female students of Dhaka University. We have also seen the party chief publicly make regressive remarks such as reducing women’s working hours.”
Mahdi questioned why a party that speaks of establishing "justice" had not nominated a single woman candidate in the current election.
“This is surely a reflection of their contemptuous attitude towards women. We saw one of their members on a talk show belittle women’s participation in parliament by comparing it to a ‘trophy’.
“We have seen this party repeatedly declare that no woman will ever be allowed to hold its top position. Yet it is their women members who are going door to door collecting people’s national ID card details and bKash numbers. Is this their so-called justice?”
Referring to the recent resignations of several female leaders of the National Citizen Party (NCP) following its electoral alliance with Jamaat-e-Islami, the BNP spokesperson said many had openly expressed anger and frustration.
“Even those contesting the election as allies have admitted they are facing various obstacles because of this party.
“There have even been allegations of questions being raised about the clothing of female candidates, which reflects extreme vulgarity and misogyny. We have witnessed that when women members of our party join election campaigns in different constituencies, they too are harassed in various ways both online and offline.”