Staff Reporter:
Jamaat-e-Islami Nayeb-e-Ameer Dr Syed Abdullah Muhammad Taher on Wednesday alleged that his party faced serious discrimination during the scrutiny of nomination papers and demanded the removal of partisan Deputy Commissioners (DCs) and Superintendents of Police (SPs) from their posts.
“There are two kinds of decisions in one country and two different applications of the same law. We have informed the Election Commission about this and protested,” Dr Taher said while talking to report-ers after leading his party delegation in a meeting with Chief Election Commissioner AMM Nasir Uddin at Nirbachan Bhaban in the capital.
He said two kinds of decisions were seen on the similar issues as some partisan DCs were appointed in different places who took decisions based on their partisan attitude not laws during the scrutiny of nomi-nation papers. “We have demanded that such partisan DCs and SPs be withdrawn and neutral officials be appointed in their place.”
Dr Taher said Jamaat candidates faced serious discrimination in the decisions of the returning officers during the scrutiny citing inconsistencies in handling cases related to dual citizenship.
“In similar cases of dual citizenship, nomination papers were accepted in some constituencies, while in others they were rejected,” he said, adding that the nomination paper of Jamaat aspirant Mahbub Salehin in Kurigram was rejected on similar grounds.
“However, in the same situation, our candidate Barrister Mahbub Salehi from Kurigram was not accept-ed. We have drawn the Election Commission’s attention to this issue,” he added.
Dr Taher also alleged discriminatory treatment in cases related to past convictions during the Awami League regime.
“In one such case, three of our leaders were punished unlawfully. Among them, nomination papers of two candidates were accepted, but in the same circumstances, the nomination of our candidate Hamidur Rahman Azad was rejected,” he said.
No Level-playing Field Yet
Raising concerns over the level-playing field, Dr Taher said Jamaat informed the EC that the level-playing field is not still there.
“We told the Election Commission that there is no level-playing field now. One particular party is being given extensive promotion,” he said.
Dr Taher said treatment of major political parties must be equal in terms of government protection, pro-tocol and even family-related facilities.
He also accused one political party of violating the election code of conduct by distributing VGF cards, agriculture cards and family cards.
“This is a clear and blatant violation of the code of conduct. We raised the issue and the Election Com-mission assured us that action would be taken if such incidents occur,” he said.
The five-member Jamaat delegation also included its Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar and Assistant Secretary General Ahsanul Mahboob Zubair and Jamaat MP candidate Shishir Monir.
