Jamaat is taking the mother of July martyred child Jabir Ibrahim to Parliament

Photo: Collected

News Desk: Rokeya Begum, the mother of child martyr Jaber Ibrahim from the July mass uprising, has been nominated for a reserved women’s seat in parliament by Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami. As the sole candidate, her becoming a Member of Parliament is now certain.

Six-year-old Jaber Ibrahim was killed on August 5, 2024, in Uttara after being shot by police. A nursery student of KC Model School and College, he had joined a protest rally with his father, Kabir Hossain, on that day.

Rokeya Begum is a homemaker. Among her three children, Jaber was the youngest. According to accounts of the July martyrs, the child had been eager to join the students’ protest march. Rokeya decided to participate in the August 5 long march with her children. After the fall of Sheikh Hasina, they joined a victory procession. During that time, police from the East Police Station opened fire, and Jaber—who was holding his mother’s hand—was shot in the thigh. He was rushed to Kuwait Maitree Hospital, but despite arranging blood, he died in the evening due to the inability to complete a cross-match in time.

The Jamaat-led alliance is set to receive 13 reserved women’s seats. Although Jamaat was expected to secure 12 seats on its own, it allocated one seat each to its alliance partners—the National Citizen Party (NCP), Bangladesh Khilafat Majlis, and Jatiya Ganotantrik Party.

Jamaat also nominated engineer Mardia Momtaz, a leader of the Women’s Rights Movement organization and a faculty member at Daffodil International University, for one of the seats. The remaining seven seats were allocated to party leaders.

Tuesday (April 21) is the final day for submitting nominations for the reserved seats. The list of 13 female candidates from the alliance was announced on Monday evening at a press conference held at the Jamaat office by the alliance coordinator Hamidur Rahman Azad.

Among the nominees from Jamaat are leaders including Nurunnisa Siddika, Marzia Begum, Sabikun Nahar Munni, Najmun Nahar Nilu, Mahfuza Siddika, Sajeda Samad, and Shamsunnahar Nahar.

Although the NCP was expected to receive one reserved seat based on its six parliamentary seats, it nominated two candidates—Monira Sharmin and Mahmuda Alam Mitu. Mitu had previously contested from the Jhalokathi-1 constituency but withdrew in support of Jamaat, under an earlier understanding that she would later receive a nomination for a reserved seat. Monira Sharmin was a member of the party’s election management committee.

The alliance also nominated Tasmia Pradhan, chairperson of JAGPA, and engineer Mahbuba Hakim from the women’s wing of Bangladesh Khilafat Majlis. Tasmia Pradhan’s nomination is seen as compensation after her brother, JAGPA vice-president Rashed Pradhan, withdrew from the election as part of alliance arrangements.

Under the leadership of Mamunul Haque, Bangladesh Khilafat secured two parliamentary seats. Typically, parties receive one reserved seat for every six general seats, but with Jamaat’s support, the party has secured an additional seat in this case.