Information Minister and Joint General Secretary of Awami League Dr Hasan Mahmud said, "BNP becomes a strict Muslim only during the polls.
Ershad has made Islam the state religion, Begum Khaleda Zia has placed her hand on the heads of scholars, but they have not acted in the service of Islam, he said.
The minister made the comment while speaking as the chief guest at the Iftar and discussion meeting of Bangladesh United Islamic Party at the National Press Club in the capital on Tuesday evening. State Minister for Religion Md Faridul Haque Khan presided over the function as special guest under the chairmanship of United Islamic Party Chairman Maulana Md Ismail Hossain.
Many governments have come before the Awami League ruled the country for the last thirteen and a half years, but no one else has done so much in the service of Islam, said Dr Hassan.
“During the vote, they talked a lot about Islam, but no one met that demand. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has established the Islamic Arabic University,” he said.
“Similarly, no one could have imagined that Qawmi Madrasa would be recognized however Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has given that recognition. To the amazement of the commentators who will not get the job even if they are recognized,s he has given not only the job but also the government job,”said the minister.
Sheikh Hasina has started the establishment of about one lakh mosque-based maktabs in the country, giving five thousand two hundred rupees monthly allowance to teachers per maktab, as well as giving monthly allowance of twenty thousand taka to twenty thousand Darul Arkam ibtedayi madrasas on her own initiative, he added.
Hasan Mahmud said, "There are many Islamic states, but in Bangladesh alone, under the leadership of the PM, 600 mosques are being built in every district and upazila across the country. When you see these mosques from outside, your eyes get teared, and when you enter, your mind is at peace.”
The Baitul Mukarram Mosque in Dhaka had no dome. Sheikh Hasina laid the foundation stone for the first time when she came to power and neither BNP nor any caretaker government was able to complete this task, he added.
State Minister for Religion Mohammad Faridul Haque Khan said that the peace of life in the hereafter lies in managing one's life by settling accounts in the world.
Former MP Alhaj Mohammad Sirajul Islam Mollah, Chairman of Hussain Muhammad Ershad Trust Kazi Mohammad Mamunur Rashid, Board Member of Islamic Foundation Dr Mufti Maulana Kafil Uddin Sarkar Salehi, Secretary General of United Islamic Party Shaikhul Hadis Maulana Rakhine was present at the event.
