DHAKA: Bangladeshâs mainstream Islamic parties have no link with extremists who are out to destabilise the government and destroy democracy, the chief of the countryâs biggest Islamic party said on Friday. Two people were killed and about 100 injured when hundreds of homemade bombs exploded simultaneously across the country on Aug 17, triggering an unprecedented security alarm among Bangladeshâs 140 million people, most of whom are Muslims. No one claimed responsibility for the blasts but copies of a leaflet found at most bomb sites carried a call by a banned Islamic militant group, Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, for the introduction of Islamic rule in Bangladesh, a Muslim democracy. âMilitant Islamic groups like the banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen are misguided and Islam never recognises them, because they undermine Islam through their misdeeds,â Moulana Matiur Rahman Nizami, head of the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh, told Reuters in an interview. Nizami, who is also Bangladeshâs industry minister, added: âExtremists will never succeed, as in the past also no clandestine or banned group has been successful in their campaigns.â
Jamaat-e-Islami is a key partner in Bangladeshâs four-party coalition government headed by Prime Minister Begum Khaleda Zia. Nizami denied any links between his party and the banned Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen or any sympathy for it. âWe believe they (or any Islamic extremists) are dangerous, they are directionless and are toys in the hands of the enemies of Islam,â he said. âThey were created by historically proved enemies of Islam, trying to damage and halt its (Islamâs) progress. They were created to project Islam as a religion of barbarians. âNeither the government nor Jamaat-e-Islami harbours Islamic terrorists.â