Many signs of a fascist virus are visible in the government, says Jamaat Ameer Shafiqur Rahman

Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer and opposition leader Shafiqur Rahman has said he does not want to call the current government fascist just yet, but that many signs of a fascist virus have become visible within it.

He made the remarks on Saturday as chief guest at the 'Upazila Representatives Conference-2026', organised by Jamaat's central youth and sports department at the Engineers Institution auditorium in Ramna, Dhaka.

Describing fascism not as the property of any particular party but as a virus, Shafiqur Rahman said: 'This virus takes hold of whoever it finds. Whoever shows some of its symptoms must be called fascist. We do not want to call this government a fascist government right now. But plenty of symptoms of that virus have appeared in this government.'

The Jamaat Ameer said the current generation drove out fascism with their own blood and will not let any new fascism take hold. There will be no compromise in building a fascism-free Bangladesh, he added.

He also accused the government of breaking its promise over implementing the July Charter. 'We will not accept this deception, and neither will the nation. You must keep the promise you made,' he said.

Shafiqur Rahman said the aspiration of the July movement was not only quota reform but state reform. One of the movement's main slogans was to ensure justice in every field, and the protesters expected the state to treat citizens fairly in all areas, including their fundamental rights.

He said everyone — the current ruling party and the opposition alike — took part in that movement and stated their position in favour of reform at the time. Jamaat has placed its election manifesto and future plans before the nation, and the current ruling party earlier put forward a 31-point reform proposal and mentioned those issues in its manifesto too.

The July Charter was drawn up on the basis of the National Consensus Commission's discussions, and two elections were decided on its basis, Shafiqur Rahman said — one to form a government and the other for state reform and reconstruction. The current ruling party accepted one and not the other, he alleged, saying they themselves created the crisis.

Raising the referendum, the opposition leader said: 'There was no referendum in favour of amending the constitution. The verdict that 70 percent of the people have given cannot be ignored. If you are a democratic party and believe in democracy, you cannot disregard the verdict given by 70 percent of the people.'

On the upcoming local government elections, Shafiqur Rahman said: 'In this election we will give no opportunity to any vote robber, conspirator or engineer.' He called on people to organise and resist all conspiracies through united resistance.

Saying the party will have programmes throughout December, the Jamaat Ameer said: 'We will have many programmes all through December. We will throw ourselves into those programmes with all our strength. It is not to stop anyone — there is no need to stop them.'

Others who spoke at the event included the party's Nayeb-e-Ameer Syed Abdullah Mohammad Taher, Secretary General Mia Golam Parwar, and assistant secretaries general Rafiqul Islam Khan, Hamidur Rahman Azad and Ehsanul Mahbub Zubayer, among other leaders.