MM Rahmatullah: Khelafat Majlis staged a protest march in Dhaka on Friday, demanding that India immediately halt border killings, compensate for all such incidents, and end the persecution of its Muslim minority.

The march began after Jummah prayers at the North Gate of Baitul Mukarram and ended with a rally presided over by Khelafat Majlis Dhaka City North President Maulana Saifuddin Ahmad Khandaker. Dhaka City South Secretary Abul Hossain conducted the event.

Addressing the rally, Khelafat Majlis Secretary General Dr. Ahmad Abdul Qader said the Indian Border Security Force [BSF] is repeatedly violating international law and human rights by shooting and killing Bangladeshi citizens along the border.

“Border killings had stopped for a long time, but India has resumed them to intimidate Bangladesh again,” he said. “By pushing people across the border and engaging in drug smuggling and other illegal activities, India is trying to create instability in Bangladesh’s border areas.”

He condemned what he called India’s “un-neighbourly behaviour” and demanded that India stop border killings, pay compensation for all such deaths, and end oppression of Muslims within its own country. “We urge India to act as a neighbour, not as a hegemon, in its relations with Bangladesh,” he added.

Dr. Qader also criticised the Bangladesh foreign ministry for not summoning the Indian High Commissioner in Dhaka, noting that three Bangladeshi citizens were killed at the Brahmanbaria and Lalmonirhat borders in the past week. He called on the government to take immediate and effective measures.

The Khelafat Majlis leader further condemned Israel, calling it “the source of instability in the Middle East.” He alleged that Israeli forces killed two Bangladeshi expatriates in a drone strike in Lebanon and said the government should take stronger steps to ensure the safety of Bangladeshi workers abroad.

Naib-e-Ameer Maulana Ahmad Ali Qasemi, Joint Secretary General Prof. Abdul Jalil, Central Organising Secretary Advocate Mizanur Rahman, Central Labour Affairs Secretary Lecturer Muhammad Abdul Karim, Mufti Abul Hasan MP, and Bangladesh Islami Chhatra Majlis Secretary General Zakaria Hossain Jakir, along with other central and city leaders of Khelafat Majlis and its student wing spoke at the rally among others.