Secretary General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Iyad Ameen Madani on Sunday assured that the OIC would continue to work with the present government here, saying there were ‘free elections’ in Bangladesh.
“…whoever is in power represents Bangladesh…the OIC looks forward to working with the officials of the government of Bangladesh,” he told reporters at the Foreign Ministry.
The OIC chief came up with the remarks after separate meetings with Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque.
Welcoming the results of the January 5 elections, Madani said he is here to listen to the leaders in terms of their vision for the OIC and the priorities of OIC in the future.
Responding to a question, he said the OIC does not get involved in domestic politics of any member state, but as a matter of principle, it sees two challenges to be faced as a Muslim Ummah. “One is sectarian violence, which is between Shi’tes and Sunnis. This is really a situation where there will be no winners and there will all be losers. We’ve to confront this as Muslims, as member states,” Madani said.
He said, the OIC has to play a role in this regard as there is a need to confront those voices of extremism that give themselves a right to talk on behalf of Islam.
“We cannot allow them to hijack Islam. Islam is a religion of tolerance, a peaceful coexistence of prosperity, scientific knowledge of free mind. We cannot allow ourselves to be taken away by literal translation of narrow minded extremism. This is the two challenges,” he added.
In his meeting with Foreign Secretary, the OIC chief discussed the Rohingya issue and laid emphasis on quick solution to the matter. Talking to reporters after the meeting, Foreign Secretary Shahidul Haque said the OIC chief seeks quick solution to the Rohingya issue with Myanmar.
Madani arrived here at 3:50 am on Sunday by a flight of Etihad Airways on a four-day official visit.
This his first visit to Bangladesh after assuming the office of Secretary General recently and the purpose of the visit is to strengthen the existing cooperation between the OIC and Bangladesh, according to the Foreign Ministry. Madani is scheduled to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at Jatiya Snagsad Bhaban at 6:30 pm yesterday after holding a meeting with Finance Minister AMA Muhith.
He will also meet Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid, apart from visiting some educational institutions, according to a Foreign Ministry media release.
The OIC Secretary General is scheduled to meet President Abdul Hamid at Bangabhaban on Monday at 7:30 pm. Madani, a former minister of Saudi Arabia, assumed office as the 10th Secretary General of OIC on January 1 this year after his election in the 12th OIC Summit held in Cairo, Egypt in February 2013.
Bangladesh is among the first few countries that the Secretary General decided to visit after taking over charge of the OIC General Secretariat.
The OIC is the second largest international organisation, after the UN family, which groups 57 Muslim-majority countries spread over four continents.
