Hefazat-e-Islam Ameer Junayed Babunagri met with Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan. The meeting took place at the minister's Dhanmondi residence on Monday night. Hefazat-e-Islam Secretary General Nurul Islam Jihadi and Shafiul Alam, personal assistant to the organization's late founder Ameer Shah Ahmed Shafi, were also present.
Responsible sources said that in the meeting, the Amir of Hefazat sought the cooperation of the Home Minister in releasing the leaders and activists of the organization arrested across the country and opening the Qaumi Madrasas after the strict restrictions to control Corona. He also talked about the initiative of the Ministry of Education to bring Qaumi Madrasas under registration and to formulate a comprehensive policy on the educational activities of the Madrasas.
Junaid Babunagri and other Hefazat leaders went to the Home Minister's residence around 8:30 pm on Monday. They left around 10:30 pm. While the media personnel present tried to talk to them as they left, the Hefazat leaders did not say anything.
Hefazat sources said that Junaid Babunagri arrived in Dhaka from Chittagong on Monday afternoon to meet with the Home Minister. He rested at Jamia Islamia Makhjanul Uloom Madrasa in Khilgaon. Hefazat Secretary General Nurul Islam Jihadi is the principal of this madrasa. Before the meeting with the Home Minister, the Hefazat Amir and Secretary General also held a meeting with a government agency.
Although Hefazat Secretary General Nurul Islam Jihadi had met with the Home Minister several times before, this was the first time Junaid Babunagri sat down with him.
The government took a tough stance against Hefazat-e-Islam after protests and violent incidents against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to Dhaka in March. About fifty leaders, including the organization's former joint secretary general Mamunul Haque and organizing secretary Azizul Haque Islamabadi, were arrested. In an attempt to normalize relations with the government amid the arrests, the Hefazat committee was declared dissolved. Later, a new Hefazat committee was formed excluding the arrested leaders.
