Shafiur Rahman, former General Secretary of the Dhaka University unit of Islami Chhatra Shibir, has raised several serious questions regarding Jamaat-e-Islami's national rally in Dhaka.
He posed these questions in a Facebook post on Friday night, July 18.
In his post, Shafiur Rahman wrote, "Currently, the total number of voters is approximately 120 million. If Jamaat's public support is between 15-25%, then Jamaat's total voter base ranges from 18 million to 30 million. Ten percent or more of Jamaat's total voters being politically active leaders and workers means a minimum of 1.5 million active members. All of them are being brought to Dhaka on July 19, 2025."
He continued, "Even if the cost per person is BDT 1,000, the cost for 1.5 million people would be BDT 1,500,000 x 1,000 = BDT 1,500,000,000 (150 crore taka). What is the achievement of this program, spending so much money (Jamaat's expenses mean the money from Jamaat's activists' pockets)?"
Shafiur Rahman further questioned, "How will India, America, and the European Union interpret Jamaat's display of this huge strength? How will China view it? In the geopolitical context, how will a powerful Jamaat-e-Islami, claiming power in Bangladesh, be treated? To what extent will the BNP and Bangladesh's 'deep state' calculate this as a threat? What steps will they take as a counter?"
He concluded by asking, "How prepared are the centers of power in Bangladesh, who control the country, to accept Jamaat? If not prepared, what kind of deals will they make with geopolitical players, especially India and America, to stop Jamaat? What kind of international diplomatic connections does Jamaat have to counter such deals? Who are Jamaat's international allies? Does it even have any allies?"
