'Who are we to tie their hands': Jamaat Ameer on letting women work if party comes to power
"If any mother and sister choose to wear other attires, we promise, we guarantee, no one will be forced. Because not only Muslims live in this country. People of other religions also live here,” he said
Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami will not stop women from working if the party comes to power, the party's chief Shafiqur Rahman said today (30 November).
"Who are we to tie their hands?" he said, referring to concerns that Jamaat would not allow women to leave their homes for work.
Speaking at a party conference in Satkhira today, the Jamaat Ameer said, "We want a country where our mothers and sisters will stay protected at home, at work, and on the roads. No bad person will dare to look at them. They will play a role in the development of the country with honour and dignity."
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Stating that Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) involved women in the most dangerous work in human life, Shafiqur said, "That work is war. Mothers have fought alongside men."
"When the Messenger of Allah created a workplace for women in the dangerous field of war, then who are we to tie their hands?" he added.
Addressing concerns about women's freedom to wear clothes if Jamaat comes to power, he said, "The opposing forces of Islam spread false propaganda about us. They say Jamaat-e-Islami will not allow women to leave the house if it comes to power, and that even if we give it, we will force them to wear the burqa by force."
"In the land where Islam is established, mothers will happily wear their clothes of honour and dignity. Still, if any mother and sister choose to wear other attires, we promise, we guarantee, no one will be forced. Because not only Muslims live in this country. People of other religions also live here," he said.
The Jamaat chief further said, "Since they [non-Muslims] have not accepted our religion, the veil prescribed by Islam does not apply to them."
He also said no non-Muslim will be forced to convert to Islam.
Speaking about communal harmony, Shafiqur said, "We want a country where mosques don't need to be guarded, temples and churches don't need to be guarded either. People of all religions will practice their religion in peace."
