Mahfuz Anam’s remarks on Jamaat-e-Islami taken out of context in viral photocards
Viral photocards circulating on Facebook falsely claim that The Daily Star Editor Mahfuz Anam has described Jamaat-e-Islami as “the most authentic representative of the country’s majority Muslim identity”. The misrepresentation ignores the analytical context of his column.
bdtoday.net first shared the photocard as a direct quote. Some other outlets (1, 2) carried the news by using the same text. The post got thousands of reactions and over 1,200 shares, with many readers criticising Anam judging him by the misrepresented quote. One reader said, “Delhi Star’s new practice of boot-licking has begun.” Another commented, “It’s hard to believe this guy is saying such things. Let’s hope you understand that people change.”
Sharing a ‘Sukhabor’ report, a reader wrote, “Before his natural death, ‘secular’ journalist Mahfuz Anam, once a leftist leader, has become hundreds of times more reactionary than his deceased father and is now a spokesperson for Jamaat’s Maududiism. He claims, “Jamaat is the most authentic representative of the majority Muslim identity of the country.”
However, a Dismislab review of Anam’s column shows that he analyzed Jamaat’s strategies to redefine its political position after the 2024 mass uprising and the use of religious identity to broaden its supporter base.
Although the reports (1, 2) use misquoted phrases in their photocards and headlines, their reports used more accurate descriptions. One of the reports says, “Mahfuz Anam, a prominent journalist and editor of the English-language newspaper the Daily Star, claims that the consciousness of Muslim identity is emerging more strongly among the country’s majority population, and Jamaat-e-Islami is trying to present itself as the most authentic representative of that identity.”
Anam’s column titled ‘Politicians must be open to accepting electoral defeats’, was published in The Daily Star on Friday (February 6). He writes: “However, in spite of its past, Jamaat today is a significant presence in the upcoming election. Opinion polls show that it is likely to emerge as the second biggest party in the next parliament. How did it navigate through such a shameful legacy and emerge with such a strength? The most important reason is its use of the rising consciousness of Muslim identity among the majority of Bangladeshis, and Jamaat positioning itself to be the most authentic representative of that.”
By omitting the phrases “use of the rising consciousness” and “positioning itself,” the reports and photocards altered the analysis’s meaning.
Thus, the assertion that Mahfuz Anam called Jamaat the most authentic representative of the country’s Muslim identity is not only misleading but also misstates the main argument of his column.
