Manzur Al Matin's family not related to Jamaat

False information is being spread about the family relationship of lawyer Manzur Al Matin with the recently banned political party Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh. Especially since Friday morning, multiple posts (1, 2, 3, 4) from various supporters and leaders of ruling party, including the official Facebook page of Bangladesh Chhatra League, have claimed that former Jamaat MP Hafeza Asma Khatun is Manzur’s grandmother and that Manzur’s maternal uncle and aunt have family connections with Jamaat leaders and war criminals Matiur Rahman Nizami and Ghulam Azam. Dismislab has verified that all these claims are false, and the individuals mentioned in the posts are not related to Manzur Al Matin.

On July 30th, Supreme Court lawyers Aynunnahar Siddiqa and Manzur Al Matin filed a writ petition in the High Court seeking the release of six coordinators of the quota reform movement and an order to stop shooting at students. Manzur’s statement on that day received considerable nationwide attention. Subsequently, allegations emerged against this lawyer, claiming his alleged past association with the student organization Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat, and familial connections with leaders of this party.

Asma Khatun, not Manzur’s grandmother

The posts circulating since Friday morning make three claims:

• Hafeza Asma Khatun, a Jamaat MP who held Reserved Female Seat 23 in the 5th National Parliament, is the grandmother of Manzur Al Matin.
• Manzur’s maternal uncle, Saifullah Mansoor, is allegedly the son-in-law of Matiur Rahman Nizami, thereby making Manzur related to Nizami.
• Mamun al-Azmi, the son of Ghulam Azam, is supposedly Manzur’s Khalu, meaning he is married to Manzur’s aunt.

To verify the first claim, Dismislab collected copies of the national identity cards of Manzur Al Matin and his mother. It was found that this lawyer’s grandmother’s name is not Asma Khatun. Manzur’s mother’s identity card lists his grandmother’s name as Mahbubunnesa (full name withheld for privacy reasons). Manzur Al Matin himself confirms that the claim is false.

A daughter of Asma Khatun, when contacted over the phone, also confirmed that the information was not true. She stated that although there is a member of their family named Manzur, it is not Manzur Al Matin.

Neither Nizami nor Ghulam Azam’s family are related to Manzur

Bangladesh Chhatra League and various government party leaders claimed in their posts that Saifullah Mansur is Manzur’s maternal uncle. However, Manzur Al Matin’s statement and an independent source confirmed that this lawyer’s younger uncle’s name is “Monsurul Khan”, not “Saifullah Mansoor”.

Saifullah Mansoor, the son of former Jamaat MP Asma Khatun and son-in-law of Matiur Rahman Nizami, told Dismislab that the claims of his family’s kinship with Manzur Al Matin are completely false. He confirmed that he is not Manzur Al Matin’s maternal uncle.

A friend of Manzur’s maternal uncle, who has been acquainted with the family since childhood, refuted the claims circulating on Facebook on Friday. In his post, he expressed disbelief at the allegations made about the marital relationships, stating that they were “beyond belief.”

Upon verification, a video interview given by Asma Khatun was found on a YouTube channel named “Saifullah Mansur Official.” In the video, Asma Khatun states that her eldest daughter, Munni, passed away due to cancer. She also mentions that Munni was the wife of Mamun Al Azmi, the son of Ghulam Azam, a former Ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami.

The interview also reveals that Asma Khatun has three daughters and two sons, making a total of five children. And Manzur Al Matin stated that his maternal grandfather’s family has 11 children and that he has no aunt named Munni.

Upon verification, it is clear that the family relationship information in the claims made on the BCL page and various profiles aligns with the family members of former Jamaat MP Asma Khatun. However, it does not match the family of Manzur Al Matin’s maternal grandfather. 

The entire claim hinges on the partial similarity between the names of Asma Khatun’s son, Saifullah Mansoor, and Manzur’s younger uncle, Monsurul Khan. This similarity has led to the erroneous claim that Asma Khatun is Manzur’s maternal grandmother. According to Manzur’s statement, his national identity card, two family members of Asma Khatun, and another independent source, this claim is entirely false.