DHAKA: Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami has denied reports that Dhaka University Central Students’ Union (DUCSU) Vice President Sadik Kayem has joined the party, dismissing the claims as inaccurate.
Kayem recently stepped down from the central working council of Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami. Following his departure, rumors spread that he had joined Jamaat-e-Islami with plans to contest a mayoral election, prompting several media reports on the matter.
Advocate Ehsanul Mahbub Zubair, assistant secretary general of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and head of its central media wing, rejected the reports when contacted.
“The information about DUCSU VP Sadik Kayem joining Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami is not correct,” Zubair said. He explained that the rumors likely stemmed from a photograph showing Jamaat Ameer Dr. Shafiqur Rahman attending a Chhatra Shibir event. “That picture is being used to suggest Kayem has joined the party. This is not true at all,” he said.
The photograph fueling the rumors was reportedly from a courtesy meeting between Kayem and Rahman at the latter’s residence. In a Facebook post about the meeting, Kayem said the discussion covered issues of public interest, including the movement to implement the referendum verdict and recent protests in Rangpur to save the Teesta River. He also thanked the opposition leader for visiting flood-affected areas of Chattogram. Rahman, in turn, inquired about DUCSU’s student welfare projects and expressed concern over stalled university initiatives, including a Tk 2 crore field renovation project, an AC installation project at the central mosque, and plans to open canteens at key campus locations, along with roughly two dozen other projects held up by what Kayem described as administrative non-cooperation. Rahman also voiced surprise that the university’s annual budget included no allocation for research.
Kayem had announced his departure from Chhatra Shibir in a Facebook post on the afternoon of July 12.
“A long, golden chapter has come to an end,” he wrote. “As part of the organization’s normal process, I have today been formally released from my responsibilities in Islami Chhatra Shibir. I offer countless thanks to Allah for everything. I have spent the most beautiful and productive years of my life with this caravan.”
FactoPulse
