'We Will Not Stop, There Is No Scope to Stop': Jamaat Amir Calls for All-Out City Election Preparations at Rukn Conference

Calling on party leaders and activists to devote their full strength to election preparations, Jamaat-e-Islami Amir and opposition leader Dr. Shafiqur Rahman has said, "We will not stop; we have no scope to stop." He made the remarks on Friday (23 October) while addressing the Rukn conference of Dhaka Metropolitan North Jamaat as chief guest at the Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in the capital. With the city corporation elections ahead, he stressed protecting the party's votes and strengthening the organisation.

Shafiqur Rahman said there is regret over failing to protect the votes the party received in the last national election. Past mistakes and weaknesses have been identified, he said, and the city elections must be approached by putting that experience to use. Ahead of the local government elections, he urged leaders and activists to work day and night as one.

Recalling the experience of voting in the last national election, he said the people had cast their votes for them, but those votes were snatched away. People told them they had voted, yet the party could not protect that vote, he said. The mistakes and weaknesses of that election have been reviewed, and he expressed hope that working in light of that experience would prevent the same errors from being repeated.

Urging maximum effort for the party's candidates in the city corporation elections, the Jamaat Amir said, "Those who have been made candidates for the city corporations carry a great blessing of knowledge given by Allah. Standing with the people, a wall must be built against the miscreants. No thief will be spared anymore. The people themselves will decide who runs this country."

Declaring an uncompromising stance on changing society, he said, "There will be no more sitting and watching the spectacle. Protests will be made in a lawful manner, and wherever there is capacity, resistance will be built."

Addressing the Rukn members, Shafiqur Rahman said their ultimate goal is to reach Allah's paradise. He remarked that people who live hand to mouth also make important contributions in the path of Allah. He claimed that 70 percent of those who took part in the 2024 mass uprising were people who earn their living day by day.

Referring to how the organisation overcame past organisational weakness, the Jamaat Amir said the organisational state of Dhaka Metropolitan North and South was once weak. It was through the sacrifice, devotion and hard work of leaders and activists that the present position had been reached.

He said, "This country will be run on the basis of the Quran, InshaAllah." He called on the Rukn members to work together to establish honest, capable and God-fearing leadership through the elections.

Speaking as special guest, Jamaat Secretary General Professor Mia Golam Parwar said Rukniyat is not a post or position but a standard, and it would be a mistake to treat it as power. Leaders and activists must prove their sacrifice and endurance by playing a strong role in the coming mayoral elections, he said; only then would the desired success in the mayor and councillor elections be possible.

Dhaka Metropolitan North Amir Mohammad Selim Uddin said that along with increasing the number of Rukn members, their quality, discipline and competence must also rise. He expressed determination to build trustworthy leadership alongside a strong organisation.

As part of the conference, Dr. Shafiqur Rahman inaugurated the "Nagorik Seba" (Citizen Service) app, developed on the initiative of Dhaka Metropolitan North Jamaat. According to the organisers, the app will carry more than 50 service-oriented facilities for citizens.

The conference was held in two sessions. In the election session from 9:45 am to 11 am, around 1,300 Rukn members voted to elect the Amir of Dhaka Metropolitan North for the 2027-2028 term. The election was conducted by central executive council member Mobarak Hossain, assisted by central executive council member Nurul Islam Bulbul MP and central working council member A. Sabur Fakir.

Chaired by Dhaka Metropolitan North Amir Mohammad Selim Uddin and conducted by its secretary Dr. Muhammad Rezaul Karim, the conference was also addressed by assistant secretary general Rafiqul Islam Khan MP, central executive council members Mobarak Hossain and Nurul Islam Bulbul MP. The conference closed with this message of city election campaigning and organisational rebuilding; how much momentum the party's preparations now gather on the ground remains to be seen.