The comment against women allegedly made from the verified X account of Jamaat-e-Islami Ameer Shafiqur Rahman has triggered widespread debate and criticism both online and offline.
People from different walks of life, particularly women, strongly criticised the Jamaat ameer over the alleged comment and held protests at various places across the country, including the Dhaka University campus.
The party, meanwhile, claimed the account was hacked by a ‘special group’ and filed a GD at Hatirjheel Police Station.
At 4:37pm on Saturday, a post denigrating women was published from Jamaat ameer’s verified X account. A screenshot of the post went viral on social media, sparking an outcry, particularly among women.
The post, which was later deleted, stated that women should not be in leadership roles and portrayed women’s participation in public life as morally harmful.
The account was compromised at 4:37pm and recovered by 5:09pm, and a rejoinder was issued at 5:22pm, said Ehsanul Mahbub Zubayer, chief of Jamaat’s publicity and media department, at an emergency press conference held at the party’s central office in Moghbazar, Dhaka, yesterday morning.
Following the incident, Sirajul Islam, a member of Jamaat’s National Election Steering Committee, filed a GD at Hatirjheel Police Station yesterday morning.
Zubayer claimed the attackers took control of the device through malware and gained access during an active session.
He alleged a “special group” hacked the ameer’s account and posted offensive content to tarnish the party’s image.
Those responsible had been preparing for several days, he said, without naming any political party, alleging a “deep conspiracy” behind the incident.
Describing the incident as an attempt to malign Jamaat, he said the party maintains a clear position on respecting women and that its chief has repeatedly emphasised the issue at election rallies.
The party claimed that not only the ameer’s account but also several Jamaat-e-Islami pages had faced attempted cyberattacks in recent days.
Mahmudur Rahman, an ICT affairs member of the party, presented what he described as “technical evidence” of the breach at the briefing.
Around 4:53pm, a similar post was made from the X account of Shafiqul Islam Masud, secretary of Jamaat’s Dhaka Metropolitan South unit, Mahmudur said, adding that later checks indicated both accounts had been compromised around the same time.
He further alleged that the hacking was carried out using a government email address. According to him, a file purportedly containing election-related information was sent to the party’s email from an official address in an attempt to sabotage Jamaat.
He claimed the sender used the email address “[email protected]” and was identified as Mohammad Sarwar Alam, an employee of the President’s Office.
In a separate thread posted on X yesterday morning, Shafiqur said false and misleading content had been circulated to misrepresent both his views and the party’s position.
He said Jamaat’s manifesto supports women’s active participation in education, healthcare, administration, entrepreneurship and public service.
He cited commitments to uninterrupted education for girls, safe campuses, zero tolerance for harassment, women-centred healthcare, equal pay, safe workplaces, childcare support, and skills development.
“These are not new positions,” he wrote, adding that he had outlined them previously and reaffirmed them at a policy summit on January 20.
He also said the party’s full manifesto would be launched on February 3.
“Judge me by my record and manifesto, not false narratives,” he wrote, adding that respect for women could move the country forward.
Meanwhile, speaking at a press conference at the BNP Election Steering Committee office in Dhaka’s Gulshan yesterday afternoon, Mahdi Amin said the “hack” claim surfaced nearly nine hours after the offensive post was published and only after public outrage.
“The claim appeared long after the post circulated and criticism mounted. If a verified account of a major political figure is hacked, the first responsibility is to inform the public immediately so confusion does not spread,” he said.
Mahdi said the delay raised doubts about the credibility of the explanation.
“Only after anger erupted did the hacking story surface. During that period, many posts were made from the Jamaat chief’s Facebook account, but not a single one warned that his X account had been compromised,” he added.
He also questioned inconsistencies in the timeline surrounding the GD.
“It was later observed that a GD was lodged at around 3:30am. In that document, it was mentioned that they learnt of the hacking at 4:55pm. If that is true, why was the GD filed nearly 12 hours later? What is the explanation? How believable is the claim that the account was recovered shortly after announcing it had been hacked?” he asked.
Condemning the language used in the disputed post, Mahdi said BNP stands firmly for women’s dignity, freedom and equal rights.
“That kind of mindset cannot be accepted in any civilised society. It is an expression of misogyny. This reflects an attempt to push society back into medieval darkness,” he said.
