Bangabandhu statue: Joy feels Hifazat-e Islam is playing the role of 1971's Jamaat-e-Islami

He made the comment while participating in a webinar on Saturday where he described the achievements during the 12 years of the Awami League government’s ‘Digital Bangladesh’ initiative.

The webinar marked the fourth Digital Bangladesh Day.

“We have been taking Bangladesh forward to transform it into a modern, developing country,” he was quoted as saying by bdnews24.

“Sadly though. I'd like to conclude with a warning. There is a group that has raised its head in a bid to take the country backwards. They are threatening to transform Bangladesh into Afghanistan," he said.

“What do we call them? We call them Razakar. There was the Jamaat in 1971, and now Hifazat is becoming the new Razakar,” remarked Joy.

Speaking on the issue of statues, he said: "They dared to vandalise the statue of the father of the nation on his birth centenary. Attacking Bangabandhu’s statue means an attack on the spirit of our independence. Those who stand against Bangladesh have carried out the attack."

Joy is the grandson of Bangabandhu.

Several political outfits have criticised the Islamist group's plan to tear down statues of Bangabandhu.

An under-construction statue of Bangabandhu was defaced in Kushtia this month.

Meanwhile, police have arrested two students and two teachers of a local madrasa over the act of vandalism.

Hifazat and other Islamic extremist groups are opposing a government plan to install a statue of the Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in Dhaka in celebration of his birth centenary. The Islamists say that statues are forbidden in Islam, reports bdnews24.