Rashed Khan raises a string of questions over Jamaat’s ‘path to paradise’ in Facebook status
Photo: Collected
Although Jamaat-e-Islami talks of showing people the path to paradise, the prime minister’s special assistant Rashed Khan has raised questions over that ‘path to paradise’ of the party. In his words, the paradise Jamaat wants to show the path to is the paradise of Dajjal.
He made the comment in a status posted on his own Facebook account on Wednesday. Rashed Khan wrote, ‘Jamaat Amir Dr Shafiqur Rahman has commented that Jamaat shows people the path to paradise! It is in the hadith that before the Day of Judgment, Dajjal too will show people paradise and ask them to follow him.’
He then raised the question, ‘I do not know which paradise Jamaat wants to show people the path to?’ Raising several questions about Jamaat’s political activities and various positions, he wrote, ‘Is this the path of holding meetings with foreigners before the vote and saying, where have we said that we will establish sharia law if we come to power? Or is this path the path of Gazi Nazrul Islam? Or is it the path of becoming lawyers for the killers of martyr Abrar Fahad, or the path of insulting religion by calling fasting and Puja the two sides of the same coin?’
He further wrote, ‘Or is it the path of saying that earlier Hindu meant the boat, and this time Hindu will mean the scales? Or is it the path of giving a nomination to Krishna Nandi on the one hand and distributing tickets to paradise on the other?’
Rashed Khan also criticised Jamaat over the July mass uprising. He wrote, ‘Or is it the path of betraying July by declaring a general amnesty instead of seeking the trial of the Awami League within a month of the mass uprising?’ In the last part of the status he wrote, ‘The paradise Jamaat wants to show people the path to through lies and deception is the paradise of Dajjal!’
Background
Under a gazette notification of the contractual and foreign appointments branch of the Ministry of Public Administration, Rashed Khan was appointed on 19 July as political assistant to the prime minister on a contractual basis with the status of secretary – The Daily Star Bangla reported this on 20 July; the information on the name of the post differs by source.
The same report said he is a leader of the 2018 quota reform movement and a former general secretary of the Gono Odhikar Parishad; he joined the BNP before the 12th parliamentary election and contested the Jhenaidah-4 seat with the party’s nomination, losing the race.
Rashed Khan had also commented on the Jamaat Amir’s remarks on 19 October after visiting the Jhenaidah central barowari Puja pandal – Dhaka Times 24 reported this on 19 October.
At a glance
Abrar Fahad, mentioned in the status, was a second-year student of Buet who was beaten to death on the night of 7 October 2019. On 8 December 2021, the court sentenced 20 Buet students to death and 5 to life imprisonment in the case – The Daily Star Bangla reported this on 24 February 2025.
Krishna Nandi, whose name appears in the status, is Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami’s nominated candidate for the Khulna-1 seat; the candidate, a follower of the Sanatan faith, had said at the Khulna Press Club that his nomination itself proves that Jamaat is a non-communal party. He replaced Jamaat’s earlier candidate, Batiaghata upazila Amir Maulana Sheikh Mohammad Abu Yusuf – The Daily Star Bangla reported this on 11 December 2025.
