Agency

Awami League's decision not to attend state functions with war criminals does not extend to joining them at religious gatherings or praying "behind an imam if he is a war criminal", AL's acting general secretary has said.

The party's policy makers faced a barrage of questions after they attended an iftar party of the Saudi envoy on Friday alongside Jamaat-e-Islami leaders.
 
Replying to reporters' questions at the home of AL acting president Zillur Rahman on Saturday, Syed Ashraful Islam said AL had no problem joining in a religious programme with Jamaat-e-Islami.
 
"Religion and politics should not overlap," the AL acting general secretary stated.
 
"We went to attend a religious programme, an iftar party, at the invitation of the Saudi ambassador."
 
"The chief of Baitul Mokarram mosque was also present there. We say our prayers under his leadership in the mosque."
 
"Won't we say our prayers behind an imam if he is a war criminal?" he asked.
 
The AL has boycotted victory day and Independence Day celebrations over the past year at Bangabhaban, protesting the invitation of Jamaat-e-Islami who played a controversial role in the war of independence.
 
On whether the party would continue attending religious programmes at the invitation of the embassies of Muslim countries, the AL leader said: "Let the invitation come first, and we'll see what happens later."
 
AL presidium member Amir Hossain Amu said: "We cannot avoid any diplomatic invitation."
 
"If our leader (Sheikh Hasina) during her regime was invited from the Pakistan High Commission, didn't she attend there?" he asked.

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