Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) targets Jamaat over 1971 Liberation War stance, demands apology

DHAKA: The ruling Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) government criticised the radical Islamist party Jamaat-e-Islami over its role in the 1971 Bangladesh Liberation War against Pakistan, stating that the party has yet to apologise for opposing the country's independence and still has time to reconsider its position, local media reported.

Speaking during the parliamentary discussion on the proposed 2026-27 budget, BNP Secretary General and Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives Minister (LGRD) Minister Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said that the opposition party Jamaat's political path would become easier in the country if it openly clarified its stance on the 1971 Liberation War and acknowledged its role.

"For your role in 1971, you have not apologised even once. You should have apologised before the nation. Had you done so, today's problems would not have existed. But you did not. On the contrary, your leader Golam Azam declared that in 1971 'we did not make a mistake'. You can even reconsider it now," Bangladesh's leading newspaper The Daily Star quoted Fakhrul as saying.

 "You should make your position on Bangladesh clear to us, to the nation. I don't want to go further," he added. (IANS)

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