Al-Nahda condemns and calls for international pressure on Bangladesh

Few countries and organisations have condemned the execution of the deputy leader of the Islamic Movement in Bangladesh, Sheikh Abdul-Kader Mulla, who was executed on Friday.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan condemned the execution of the Muslim leader in Bangladesh and criticised international silence towards the incident. “Those who have been silent are still silent today,” Anadolu news agency reported him saying.

Tunisian Al-Nahda movement condemned the execution and considered it part of “political disagreements.”

In a statement, the movement said: “We pray for Allah to shower His mercy on the soul of the martyr Abdul-Kader Mulla. We consider accusing him of committing war crimes in 1971 as political revenge.”

According to the statement, Mulla was a political opposition leader and was executed “only for being a leader of an Islamic movement that fought for unity when Pakistan was divided.”

Like other non-Islamic parties, the movement called for giving equal opportunity to the Islamic movement in Bangladesh. “The movement has the right of free participation in political life without any kind of harassment,” the statement said.

The movement called for international bodies to immediately intervene and call for Bangladesh to halt the execution of four other Islamic leaders due to be executed in the coming days.

Mulla’s advocate Tagol Islam said: “Mulla was executed because he was a leader of an Islamic party.”

Hundreds of thousands of Bengalis participated in the funeral of the Islamic leader and consequent violence resulted in the death of seven members of the movement. Many were wounded.