Dhaka: Condemning columnist Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury’s reported derogatory remarks on the Almighty Allah, BNP on Sunday demanded an investigation into the matter to find out whether he was provoked by any quarter.

The party also demanded punishment of Bangladesh’s permanent representative to the UN Dr AK Abdul Momen for presenting Gaffar Chowdhury with a crest after making offensive remarks about Allah.

‘Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury at a seminar on ‘Bangladesh: Past, Present and Future’ at the Permanent Mission of Bangladesh to the UN in the USA made offensive remarks about Allah’s 99 adjectival names. He said the names were kept after the names of Kafirs (disbelievers). How much audacious his comment is!’ said BNP spokesman Asaduzzaman Ripon.

Addressing a press briefing at BNP’s Nayapaltan central office, he further said, ‘His (Gaffar’s) comments have created serious discontent in the country. He has hit the religious sentiment of the entire Muslim world. We strongly denounce and protest his offensive remarks.’

He also demanded a fair investigation into the matter to know whether there was any provocation from the Foreign Ministry or Abdul Momen. ‘We don’t want to believe the government has any link to the incident. So, the government must look into it to identify whether any quarter has its hand in it.’

According to media reports, Gaffar Chowdhury, an expatriate Bangladeshi living in the UK, made various offensive comments about Allah and Islam at a seminar arranged by Bangladesh’s Permanent Mission to the UN on 3 July.

Mentioning that it is necessary to take approval of the authorities concerned before presenting any keynote paper in their programme, Ripon said such a seminar cannot be arranged in Bangladesh’s Permanent Mission to the UN without the Foreign Minister’s approval.

The BNP leader regretted that the seminar should have halted after Gaffar Chowdhury’s anti-Islamic remarks. Rather, he was presented a crest from the Bangladesh Mission.

He also hoped that Gaffar Chowdhury will regret his comments and will apologise to people for that.

Ripon also criticised Gaffar Chowdhury for his comment that the US will be doomed saying such remarks can affect the country’s ties with the US.