Babunagari New Amir of Hefazat, Qasemi SG

Junaid Babunagari and Noor Hossain Qasemi were elected respectively as the amir and secretary-general of the Qawmi madrasa-based radical Islamist party Hefazat-e-Islam Bangladesh. 

In the central council meeting held at Hathazari Madrasa in Chattogram on Sunday amid conflict, they were elected as a group close to the late Amir Shah Ahmad Shafi's family of the organization on Saturday urged to cancel the assembly. 

They also created a new council committee of 151 members. 

The meeting began at 10:30 am with the participation of several hundred councilors, advisors, top Islamic leaders and scholars, with Hefazat's Nayeb-e-Ameer Muhibullah Babunagari (maternal uncle of Junayed Babunagari) as chairman.

Amir's place fell vacant after Shafi died while receiving treatment on 18 September at the Asgar Ali Hospital in the capital. Shafi was Al-Jamiatul Ahlia Darul Ulum Moinul Islam's director-general, also known as the Hathazari Madrasa. 

Hefazat was founded in 2010 and came to prominence in early 2013 by mobilizing opposition to the Shahbagh Movement.