Shafi Death

Shafi's Photo: Muminur Rahman/Wikipedia Allama Shafi

36 Hefazat leaders and activists accused of killing ex-Amir Allama Shafi

Among the 36 accused in the case are Hefazat's Joint Secretary General Maulana Mamunul Haque, Nasir Uddin Munir, Organizing Secretary Azizul Haque Islamabadi, Deputy Organizing Secretary Mir Idris, Assistant Secretary General Habibullah, Assistant Finance Secretary Ahsan Ullah, Publicity Secretary Zakaria Noman Fayezi, and Enamul Hasan, the personal assistant of Junaid Babunagari, the current Amir of Hefazat.

The court directed the Police Bureau of Investigation to investigate the case.

According to the complaint, Ahmed Shafi was ill, but he was detained in a room of Hathazari Madrasa in Chittagong on the instructions of the accused. That house was attacked and looted. Ahmed Shafi was not even allowed to leave the madrasa premises by ambulance. Enamul Hasan Farooqi led the way in blocking the ambulance.

Hefazat-e-Islam leader Shah Ahmed Shafi died on September 18, 2020. Earlier, on September 16, students at Hathazari Madrasa staged a protest in support of the six-point demand, including the removal of Anas Madani, a teacher at the institution and Ahmed Shafi's son. The students also beat up Moinuddin Ruhi, the former joint secretary general of Hefazat-e-Islam, by closing all the entrances to the madrasa. In the face of student protests, Shafi resigned as director general of the madrasa, and the Sura Committee fired Anas Madani from the post. After the demands were met, the students called off their protest that evening.

Then in November, Junaid Babunagari, the joint secretary of Hefazat, was elected as the new Amir of the organisation. His new committee did not include Anas Madani or Shafi's followers.

There was a lot of confusion within the organisation over the cause of Shafi's death. Finally, on June 2, another joint press conference was held at the National Press Club in Dhaka by Mufti Faizullah, former Joint Secretary General of Hefazat-e-Islam. He and Shafi's relatives present there complained that the 'selfish quarters' wanted to take control of the country's Qawami Madrasa for their own ends, but they would not accept any committee nominated by Babunagari and his team.

They demanded speedy trial and exemplary punishment for those accused of causing Shafi's untimely death. Apart from Faizullah, Shafi's younger son Maulana Anas Madani, Maulana Abdul Hamid (Madhupuri Pir), Muhaddis Maulana Nurul Islam Jadid and other Shafi-following leaders were present.

Faizullah also demanded the safety of Shafi's family members and followers. He said legal action needs to be taken against those who are threatening others to drop the case.