Staff Reporter

A meeting involving Sirajganj-3 (Raiganj-Tarash) MP Md Aynul Haque inside a mosque, with chairs and sofas arranged for participants, has sparked widespread discussion and criticism on social media.

The meeting was held on Saturday morning (September 19) at Kodla Qawmi Madrasa Jame Mosque in Chandaikona Union of Raiganj upazila.

Photographs showing chairs and sofas arranged inside the mosque for the gathering have circulated on social media, prompting questions over the appropriateness of holding such a programme inside a place of worship.

Local BNP leaders, however, said the programme was organised by the authorities of the madrasa and mosque and was not a political event.

Several attempts were made to contact Md Aynul Haque, MP for the Sirajganj-3 constituency, for his comment on the meeting being held inside the mosque. He could not be reached by phone.

Md Shamsul Islam, former general secretary of Raiganj upazila BNP, said the authorities of Kodla Qawmi Madrasa and Jame Mosque had invited the MP to discuss financial issues concerning the institution.

According to him, the madrasa and mosque authorities had substantial outstanding dues related to the operation of the institution and wanted to discuss the matter with the lawmaker.

“We went to the madrasa and found that sofas and chairs had been arranged inside the mosque for the guests,” Shamsul Islam said.

He said they did not raise any objection because the gathering was not organised as a political programme.

“As it was not a political programme, we did not object to the arrangement. We participated in the programme organised by the authorities for the development of the madrasa and mosque,” he said.

Shamsul Islam said, the discussions mainly focused on the development of the mosque and madrasa, as well as religious matters.

The incident has nevertheless generated debate online, particularly over the use of the mosque’s interior for a formal gathering involving a sitting lawmaker.

While some social media users have questioned whether such meetings should be held inside a mosque, local BNP leaders have maintained that the event was arranged by the religious institution itself and had no political agenda.

The controversy comes amid growing public attention to the use of religious institutions for meetings and other activities involving political figures. However, no statement from the MP or the mosque and madrasa authorities was available regarding the social media criticism at the time of filing this report.