IOJ splits again

Dissident leaders float new party

5 January 2011, 18:00 PM

Staff Correspondent

The Islami Oikkya Jote (IOJ) faction led by Misbahur Rahman Chowdhury yesterday split into two following internal disputes over party activities. Following the break up, dissident leaders Nurul Islam Khan and Maulana Mashudur Rahman announced formation of a new party, Ganotantrik Islami Oikkya Jote, at a meeting at its temporary office at Motijheel in the capital. The meeting formed a 55-member committee with Nurul Islam and Mashudur Rahman as convener and member secretary. The new faction has set independence, spirit of Liberation War of 1971 and Madina Charter as its motto. The new leaders alleged that IOJ Chairman Misbahur Rahman was serving the interest of Jamaat-e-Islami. Misbahur did not allow intra-party democracy, and failed to win support of Islamic scholars, they claimed. IOJ has another faction led by Mufti Fazlul Haq Amini, which is an ally of BNP-led four-party alliance.